A representation of a sheep’s pen. (Photo: Unknown/Public Domain)

Many people in the Middle Ages learned to read and worship by studying their psalters, or personal copies of the Book of Psalms, often collected together with other religious texts and a calendar of feast days. The intricately painted Luttrell Psalter, commissioned by an English lord in the 14th century, is one of the most beautiful surviving examples.

SirGeoffrey Luttrell, a knight who was Lord of the Manor of Irnham in Lincolnshire, lived between the years 1276 and 1345. The title page of the psalter reveals that Luttrell felt his impending death was near, and commissioned the psalter to serve as a record of his life, grand as it was. However, the psalter is also populated by illustrations…