The Writing on the Wall at Belshazzar's Feast

Getty Museum

The Writing on the Wall at Belshazzar's Feast

Date
about 1400–1410
Medium
Tempera colors, gold, silver paint, and ink
Culture
German
Department
Manuscripts
Institution
Getty Museum
Object ID
432b8392-71c4-46bf-9258-f2d16d81371a

From the Getty Museum record

In this miniature inspired by a Biblical story, King Belshazzar dines at a magnificent feast to celebrate his successful looting of the Temple at Jerusalem. While dining, a disembodied hand begins to write mysterious characters on the wall. The king finds that only the prophet Daniel can interpret the signs: the king will die for his act of sacrilege. This story explains the origins of a phrase we still use today: "read the writing on the wall."

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