Damien Hirst|Psalms

The 'Psalms' prints carry into print a project Hirst began in 2008: 150 kaleidoscope paintings of butterfly wings on painted canvas, one for each psalm of the Old Testament. Because the titles are the opening words of psalms, the prints read as a sequence of prayers as well as a run of patterns. Prayers in Latin Each title quotes the first words of a psalm as they stand in the Latin Bible. 'Deus, Deus meus' opens the psalm that begins "My God, my God", 'Miserere mei, Deus' asks God for mercy, and 'Quare fremuerunt gentes' asks why the nations rage. Set against butterflies, long read as the soul and, in Christian imagery, as resurrection, the words tie the patterns to the faith and mortality that run through Hirst's work. Glaze and diamond dust The images are screenprints, with two finishes that set them apart. A clear glaze gives the printed wings a lacquered sheen, and on many sheets diamond dust is scattered across the image so that the surface glints. The diamond dust is real material on the paper; the butterflies themselves are printed images, with no actual wings. At auction An artist's proof of 'Exaudi, Domine' with diamond dust set the five-year high in March 2023, selling for £25,200 including premium in an online Christie's sale in London against an estimate of £8,000 to £12,000. The highest earlier result carries notable provenance. In September 2018 Sotheby's London sold artist's proofs of 'Benedictus Dominus' and 'Exaudi, Domine' together for £30,000 with fees, from the collection of Frank Dunphy, Hirst's long-time business manager, and his wife Lorna. Before and after The circular format began with the 'Kaleidoscope' paintings of 2001; the Psalms gave it a text. Hirst came back to scripture in butterfly prints a decade later in H6 - The Aspects (2019), whose five titles come from one verse of Exodus.