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David Pointing to His Eye

Creator

French Illuminator · 1350–1370

The Master of Jean de Mandeville, an anonymous French illuminator, is thus known for his work on a manuscript of *Mandeville's Travels* now in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. A prolific court artist, he worked in France in the circle of King John the Good and King Charles V from around 1350 to 1370. He often painted the costumes of his slight figures in grisaille and rendered the figures' faces

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Date: about 1360–1370
Medium: Tempera colors, gold, and ink
Culture: French
Department: Manuscripts
Institution: Getty Museum
Object ID: d84c13a5-1a53-4abf-9b24-98f56dd26a9e

From the Getty Museum record

King David points to his eye as he addresses the Lord, pictured within a pink cloud above. Because medieval readers would have understood a direct connection between light and the sense of sight, this gesture illustrates the opening words of the text in red just below the miniature, "The Lord is my light and my salvation" (Psalm 26:1). The anonymous illuminator, known as the Master of Jean de Mandeville, concentrated the viewer's attention on the exchange between David and the Lord by isolating the figures in front of a delicately patterned background. Because medieval Christians believed David to be the author of the psalms, they found it particularly appropriate that he should be shown acting out the psalm's text.

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