The Pivotal Role of the Two Fools Miniature in the Psalter of Bonne of Luxembourg

Abstract

The miniature of two fools accompanying Psalm 52 (The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God) in the fourteenth-century Psalter of Bonne of Luxembourg (Fig. 1) is one of the most frequently reproduced images from the manuscript. Discussions of it focus on the anti-Jewish character of the large-nosed figure at the left but say little about the other elements of the folio's decoration or the relation of the miniature to other parts of the book. This essay examines the Two Fools miniature within the context of its page design and its placement within the manuscript's program of texts and images. It will be seen that the figures, background, and bas-de-page of the Two Fools folio work together to convey the meaning of Psalm 52 and create visual and conceptual links to other parts of the manuscript. Through these connections the folio served as a pivot or turning point that encouraged the reader to contemplate the relations between the cycles of time marked in the calendar, the messages of the psalm, and the meditations on Christ's wounds at the end of the book.

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