Davidthe greatest king of Israel the founder of Jerusalem and one of thepivotal figures of the Old Testamentwas a rich source of inspiration forartists and thei... » 

Davidthe greatest king of Israel the founder of Jerusalem and one of thepivotal figures of the Old Testamentwas a rich source of inspiration forartists and their patrons throughout the medieval world. Regarded as a directancestor of Jesus the sweet psalmist of Israel appears in countless works ofart from the Dura Europus paintings to the many illuminated psalters of thelater medieval period. These depictions of David are as varied as they arenumerous. He appears among other roles as musician author warrior lovershepherd politician worshipper father king refugee and mourner. Thisvolume is the first comprehensive survey of the vast profusion of David imagesin both Byzantium and the West providing an authoritative guide to the entirerange of medieval depictions. With over 5000 entries organized into more than240 recognizable episodes from his richly illustrated life the catalogueincludes all of the David entries in the Index of Christian Arts card filesand database.The objects catalogued here range in date from the third to the fifteenthcentury and represent fourteen different media including frescoes ivoriesmanuscripts stained glass sculpture mosaics and textiles. Each entry givesdetailed information on the objects current location date and primarysubject. The catalogue is enhanced by over a hundred photographs illustrating awide range of episodes from Davids life. An index allows the reader to browsethe medieval world geographically for images of David still in situ and themodern world for objects in museums libraries and other collections. Thevolume also includes an extensive bibliography on David in Early ChristianByzantine and Western medieval art. «