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Border with David Pleading with God to End the Pestilence

Creator

Flemish Illuminator · 1483–1561

Artist

One of the most celebrated painters of Flanders in the 1500s, Simon Bening was hailed by Portuguese art critic Francisco da Hollanda as the greatest master of illumination in all of Europe. In addition to producing books for powerful aristocrats such as Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg, Bening worked for a group of international royal patrons including Emperor Charles V and Don Fernando, the Infan

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Date: about 1525–1530
Medium: Tempera colors, gold paint, and gold leaf
Culture: Flemish
Department: Manuscripts
Institution: Getty Museum

With the pitiful corpses of his countrymen lying in a valley beneath him, David addresses God directly with a heart-felt plea to punish him and his family instead of the population at large: "I am the one who has sinned, I have done wrong: these who are the sheep, what have they done? I entreat you to turn your hand against me and against my father's house." (2 Samuel 24:17) On the facing page, Christ in a similar manner accepts the sacrifice of his own life in exchange for remission of the world's sins.

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