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David in Prayer

Creator

Flemish Illuminator · 1410–1450

The Master of Guillebert de Mets was a prolific, anonymous, illuminator who worked in Flanders during a flourishing period of manuscript production. The Master's name derives from his illuminations in a manuscript of the *Decameron,* now in Paris, which was signed by the scribe Guillebert de Mets. The Master of Guillebert de Mets was trained in Paris or by Parisian illuminators who worked in Fland

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Date: about 1450–1455
Medium: Tempera colors, gold leaf, and ink
Culture: Flemish
Department: Manuscripts
Institution: Getty Museum

The theme of David in prayer often introduces the Penitential Psalms in books of hours. Not only was David traditionally identified as the author of the psalms, but he served as a model for penitence. After his adultery with Bathsheba, he was rebuked by the prophet Nathan and repented. Here he appears on his knees, speaking directly from his heart to the Lord. The repetition of the colors of green, blue, and gold, the depiction of large lilies in the borders, and the inclusion of a banderole issuing from the miniature into the border foliage matches the decorative scheme of the preceding image of the Last Judgment, producing a harmonious double-page opening.

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