Cleveland Museum of Art
David Playing the Harp before Saul
Frans Floris
- Date
- 1555
- Medium
- chiaroscuro woodcut
- Culture
- Netherlands, 16th century
- Department
- Prints
- Institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
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.
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