September 23, 2025

Sing a New Song: The Psalms in Medieval Art and Life at The Morgan Library & Museum, September 12, 2025 – January 4, 2026

“The Morgan Library & Museum presents Sing a New Song: The Psalms in Medieval Art and Life, the first exhibition of its kind devoted to the importance of the Psalms throughout medieval art, prayer, and everyday life. On view from September 12, 2025, through January 4, 2026, Sing a New Song traces the impact of the Psalms on people in medieval Europe from the sixth to the sixteenth century, encompassing daily practices and performance, as well as the creation and illumination of Psalters (Books of Psalms). Drawing on five years of scholarly research, the exhibition and accompanying publication take the Psalms out of their established place in religious texts and paint a vibrant picture of the people who used them—men, women, and children—both religious and lay.” — The Morgan Library & Museum“

The Morgan is very pleased to present this comprehensive, interdisciplinary exhibition, which draws on years of research into a topic that is largely unknown to the general public,” said Colin B. Bailey, Katharine J. Rayner Director of the Morgan Library & Museum. “It continues a now well- established tradition at the Morgan of organizing ambitious medieval projects that reflect the strength of our holdings and our commitment to making the latest scholarship available to as wide an audience as possible.”

Winchester Bible Leaf. David and Goliath. England, Winchester, ca.. 1160–1180. Morgan MS M.619v. Single Leaf. 580 x 390 mm. The Morgan Library & Museum, Photography by Graham S. Haber.
David Slays Goliath. Crusader Bible. Paris, France, ca. 1244-1254. Morgan MS M.638, fol. 28v. Single Leaf. 390 x 300 mm. David. The Morgan Library & Museum, MS M.638, fol. 28v. Photography by Graham S. Haber.
Books of Truth (Sefrei Emet). Written by Isaac ben Ovadiah for Jacob, son of. Rabbi Benjamin of Montalcino. Illuminated by Mariano del Buono. Italy, 1467. New Haven, Beinecke MS 409, fol 3r. Codex. 111 x 80 mm. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Ingeborg Psalter Workshop. God Commanding Adam and River of Paradise. Psalms in Latin with interlinear French translation and French commentary of Simon de Tournai. Belgium, Tournai, ca. 1200. Morgan MS M.338, fol. 42r. (detail). Codex. 335 x 238 mm. The Morgan Library & Museum, Photography by Janny Chiu.
Attavante degli Attavanti. Pope Leo X Vesting; Leo X Praying. Praeparatio ad missam of Leo X. Italy, Rome, 1520. Morgan MS H.6, fols. 1v-2r. Codex 396 x 266 mm. The Morgan Library & Museum, MS H.6 fols. 1v-2r. Photography by Janny Chiu.
Silvestro dei Gherarducci. Ascension. Gradual of San Michele a Murano. Italy, Florence, ca. 1392–1399. Morgan MS M.653.3. Single Leaf. 590 x 400 mm. The Morgan Library & Museum, Photography by Graham S. Haber.
Giulio Clovio. Death of Uriah and David in Penance. Farnese Hours. Italy, Rome, 1546. Morgan MS M.69, fols. 63v-64r. Codex (only, no binding). 173 x 110 mm. The Morgan Library & Museum, Photography by Janny Chiu.

This exhibition and the accompanying publication really do ‘sing a new song’ as they explore, in a manner that has not been done before, how life and art in the Middle Ages and Renaissance were permeated by psalms,” said Roger S. Wieck, Melvin R. Seiden Curator and Department Head of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts at the Morgan Library & Museum. “Along with my colleagues Deirdre Jackson, Assistant Curator of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts; Joshua O’Driscoll, Associate Curator of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts; and Frederica Law-Turner, Contributing Guest Curator, all of whom helped to shape and broaden the exhibition, I am grateful that the Morgan is able to present an exhibition and handbook as a frame of reference for understanding the role of the Psalms in medieval life.”

Title image: Chanting Clerics, from the Windmill Psalter, England, London, late thirteenth century. The Morgan Library & Museum, MS M.102, fol. 100r (detail). Photography by Carmen González Fraile.

Images courtesy The Morgan Library & Mueum.