Artwork Page for David Playing the Harp before Saul

Details / Information for David Playing the Harp before Saul

David Playing the Harp before Saul

1555

after Frans Floris

(Netherlandish, 1519–1570)
Culture
Netherlands, 16th century
Medium
chiaroscuro woodcut
Support
Beige (2) laid paper
Measurements
Sheet: 33.4 x 47.9 cm (13 1/8 x 18 7/8 in.)
Credit Line
John L. Severance Fund 1997.189
Catalogue raisonné
Hollstein I, Strauss 101, Bialler 3a/e
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

The soothing effect of David’s music upon the melancholic King Saul, as relayed in the Old Testament and depicted here by Frans Floris, is the earliest visual evidence of the therapeutic use of music. Floris’s woodcut would have had contemporary relevance in its affirmation of Martin Luther’s belief that music-a divine power that creates order—had been made by God to combat the destructive power of evil.
A horizontally oriented chiaroscuro woodcut in brown and cream tones depicts David, a muscular man with light skin tone, playing a harp on our left. He faces Saul, an older man with light skin tone, who slumps in an ornate throne. Several men with light skin tones support Saul while a dog rests its paws on the throne. Soldiers stand on the far left, and an older man raises his hands on our right.

David Playing the Harp before Saul

1555

Frans Floris

(Netherlandish, 1519–1570)
Netherlands, 16th century

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