Getty Museum
King David in Penitence
Creator
Master of the Houghton MiniaturesFlemish Illuminator · 1476–1480
All works by this person →A series of remarkable miniatures in a devotional book now in the Houghton Library at Harvard provided a name for the Master of the Houghton Miniatures. The very few illuminations identified as being from this artist's hand are all characterized by a crisp, precise drawing technique, a coherent and convincing sense of depth, and the frequent inclusion of weathered, rugged figures. The Master of th
More on Getty ULAN- Date
- about 1480
- Medium
- Tempera colors and gold
- Culture
- Flemish
- Department
- Manuscripts
- Institution
- Getty Museum
The figure of King David kneels on the grass in prayer, his gaze upturned to the figure of God. A crown and the harp used for his composition of the psalms lie before him on the ground. God the father gazes down on him from above, silhouetted by a gold ground demarcating the unearthly realm of heaven. God holds an orb in his left hand, signifying his power over the world, and an arrow in his right. The arrow symbolizes justice but may also allude to the wrongful death of Uriah (the husband of David’s lover Bathsheba), which was orchestrated by David. The Master of the Houghton Miniatures, the name given to an anonymous artist whose greatest work resides in one manuscript at the Houghton Library at Harvard, An innovator, the Master of the Houghton Miniatures ushered in a new naturalism that was to characterize Ghent-Bruges illumination for nearly half a century. His sensitive draftsmanship renders David’s features and wispy curling hair with convincing detail while the elaborate buildings behind him recede deeply and dramatically into space. The miniature’s palate is muted and colors have shifted as a result of exposure to light. David’s voluminous robes, spread behind him in sharp folds as he kneels, were most likely originally a rich, bold, red rather than the muted yellow they appear today.
The authoritative record is held by Getty Museum. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.
Get printable QR codesHide QR codes
Open QR codes for this object page and the museum record. They stay collapsed until needed.
Related across collections
Semantically similar works from Getty Museum and other institutions.