Anonymous - Crossing of the Red Sea (extract of the Paris psalter; detail of folio 420r)

• Title: Crossing of the Red Sea (extract of the Paris psalter; detail of folio 420r)
• Artist: Anonymous (?-?)
• Date: c.940-960
• Medium: Ink on parchment
• Dimensions: about 1/8th section of 38 x 27 cm

The "Paris Psalter" is a copy of the 150 psalms of David, translated from Hebrew into demotic Greek. It is a Byzantine illuminated manuscript with 14 full-page miniatures. The Paris Psalter is considered a key monument of the so-called Macedonian Renaissance, a 10th-century renewal of interest in classical art closely identified with the emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (909-959) and his immediate successors.

The first seven images preceding the text depict scenes from the life of David, the author of the psalms. The eighth miniature marks the beginning of the Penitential psalms. The last 6 minatures, depicting Moses, Jonah, Hannah, Ezekiel and Hezekiah, introduce and illustrate the Canticles of the Old Testament.

The miniature copied above represents Moses parting the Red sea, with personifications of the desert, night, the abyss, and the Red sea. The Red sea is engulfing the pharaoh and his army.