Apotheose of King and Prophet David - Vivian-Bible
The First Bible of Charles the Bald (BNF Lat. 1), also known as the Vivian Bible - Folio 215 verso
Bible de Vivien, dite Première Bible de Charles le Chauve] -
gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8455903b.langDE
The Old Testament king and prophet David is depicted here - >>David rex et propheta<< reads the inscription - in an almond-shaped outline (mandorla) as an almost naked world musician with a harp. He is flanked by two armed bodyguards from the ranks of Kereter and Peleter (these names became the derogatory colloquial term >>Kreti and Pleti<< in German).
The names of the four musicians who surrounded him and who were themselves regarded as authors of psalms, Asaf, Etan, Heman and Jedutun, are, like those of the bodyguards, taken from the Bible (1 Chronicles 15:19 and 25:1). The allegories of the four cardinal virtues Prudentia, Iustitia, Fortitudo and Temperantia (Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, Temperance) appear in the spandrels between the mandorla and the miniature's upright rectangular frame.
The David miniature refers to the image of the >>Majestas Domini<<, the enthroned Christ amidst the four evangelists and the four great prophets, on the verso of folio 329. In both cases, the numerical symbolism of the four comes into play, pointing to overarching cosmological contexts.
This is why David also functions as a kind of anticipation of the world ruler Christ, and both in turn can be utilised in the understanding of the time for the royal ideology of an earthly ruler.
Apotheose of King and Prophet David - Vivian-Bible
The First Bible of Charles the Bald (BNF Lat. 1), also known as the Vivian Bible - Folio 215 verso
Bible de Vivien, dite Première Bible de Charles le Chauve] -
gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8455903b.langDE
The Old Testament king and prophet David is depicted here - >>David rex et propheta<< reads the inscription - in an almond-shaped outline (mandorla) as an almost naked world musician with a harp. He is flanked by two armed bodyguards from the ranks of Kereter and Peleter (these names became the derogatory colloquial term >>Kreti and Pleti<< in German).
The names of the four musicians who surrounded him and who were themselves regarded as authors of psalms, Asaf, Etan, Heman and Jedutun, are, like those of the bodyguards, taken from the Bible (1 Chronicles 15:19 and 25:1). The allegories of the four cardinal virtues Prudentia, Iustitia, Fortitudo and Temperantia (Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, Temperance) appear in the spandrels between the mandorla and the miniature's upright rectangular frame.
The David miniature refers to the image of the >>Majestas Domini<<, the enthroned Christ amidst the four evangelists and the four great prophets, on the verso of folio 329. In both cases, the numerical symbolism of the four comes into play, pointing to overarching cosmological contexts.
This is why David also functions as a kind of anticipation of the world ruler Christ, and both in turn can be utilised in the understanding of the time for the royal ideology of an earthly ruler.