King David
was a popular subject in both medieval and Renaissance art. He appeared in many
guises, from young shepherd boy, to victorious warrior, to troubled but triumphant
old king.
David appeared in
medieval Christian art from the third century, often as a prefiguration or "ancestor"
of Christ. Typology, the technique of interpreting a character from the Hebrew
Bible as a New Testament figure, was a popular practice in medieval art. Characters
were typified as both figures and events. The death of Absalom, for example,
was reinterpreted as a prefiguration of the crucifixion. Bathsheba was represented
as the Virgin Mary.
Beginning around 1200,
Byzantine art gave birth to the Cycle technique of depiction; favorite biblical
stories, including the ones in the books of Samuel and Kings, were painted in
multiple scenes enclosed in frames. Telltale elements crept into the cycles,
betraying features of daily life. For example, in one English Psalter (prayerbooks
containing Psalms; according to tradition, David is the author of Psalms), David
is portrayed playing the organ. Another cycle depicted Joshua dressed in the
obligatory pointed hat that distinguished Jew from gentile in the Middle Ages.
Detail from
six scenes from a tree of Jesse window
King David, Germany, Swabia (?), c1290-1300
pot-metal and glass; 24 1/4 x 14 in
(64.x x 35.5 cm) view
enlargement
Jesus'
genealogy as listed in the Book of Matthew and foretold in Isaiah (11:10)
— "On that day a scion from the root of Jesse shall be set up
as a signal to the peoples" — was popularly depicted in the form
of a tree growing from the side of King David's father, Jesse. Popular
in French stained glass since the 12th century, this visualization underwent
a transformation in Germany a century later. Rather than tracing the kingly
lineage of Christ, the German interpretation illustrated scenes of Christ's
life juxtaposed with Old Testament prototypes.
This representation of King David holding his emblematic harp is one of
six panels from a German Tree of Jesse window that represents a transitional
stage in the evolution of Christ and from his Passion, while retaining
the genealogical figure of King David.
Pictures of David adorn many
illuminated medieval Psalters , in most — praising God
by playing the harp or lyre. Carolingian Psalters before the year 1000 show David
in typological fashion as Jesus, surrounded by his four musicians, Asaph, Heman,
Ethan, and Jeduthun, representing the four Evangelists.
In Renaissance Florence,
much had changed. David had become a political symbol. Lifelike statues of young
David triumphant from his battle with Goliath were sculpted by Donatello, Michelangelo,
and Verrocchio for the Medici family. Art historians argue that in these and other
depictions of the young David, the biblical hero was meant to symbolize the anti-tyrant
republican virtues of Florence, and even personify the city itself.[1]
This
view has been disputed, but it is certain that the David the Renaissance
Florentines inherited from medieval Christianity was shaped by the biblical
David; this was the David who danced before God, who refused to go to
battle without first requesting God's favor, and who made sacrifices of
thanks to God for his victories. With these actions, David had come to
symbolize a ruler whose power is sanctioned by God and whose people's
electedness is divine, two factors which together guarantee civic harmony.[2]
Employing this symbolism, Charles the Bald and other ninth century Carolingian
emperors frequently had themselves depicted as David.
[1]
This thesis was first advanced by Frederick Hartt in "Art and
Freedom in Quattrocento Florence," in L. Sandler, Ed. Essays
in Memory of Karl Lehman, Locust Valley, NY, 1964, pp.114-131.[back]
[2]
Andrew Butterfield. "New Evidence for the Iconography of David
in Quattrocento Florence." Tatti Studies, 1995 (No. 6), pp.115-133.[back]
