Image
© Hildesheim, St Godehard |
DAVID AS A
MUSICIAN
David sits on a fine folding chair playing a viol or rebeck held between
his knees. The instrument is very accurate: David holds the bow and neck
correctly; the strings are convincingly attached over a hook at the bottom
and tuning keys project from the top. His music and psalms are inspired
by the dove of the Holy Spirit whispering in his ear. On either side of
David are a sheep and goat, reminders that the humble shepherd became
king. David the musician (playing the harp), inspired by the dove of the
Holy Spirit is depicted earlier in the Anglo-Saxon manuscript, London,
British Library, MS Cotton Tiberius C.VI, f18.
The presence of the sheep and goat (albeit the wrong way around) also
implies a reference to the Last Judgement (Matthew 25:3). This fits in
to the discourse at the start of the Psalms (p71-2) where the main theme
of the Psalter is defined as the fight between good and evil, sin and
redemption. It also makes a fitting conclusion to the life of Christ,
ending in judgement and redemption.
Last page of quire 4
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