Paintings and Artwork of David and the Psalms

Psalms: Praise and Prayer for Disciples -- JesusWalk Bible Study Series

Paintings and Artwork of David and the Psalms

by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson
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Detail of "David Playing the Harp" (1670) by Jan de Bray (Dutch painter, 1627-1697), oil on canvas, 142 x 154 cm, private collection. Larger image.

Marc Chagall (French artist, 1887-1985)

David with His Harp (1956), lithograph. Another.
King David (1951), oil on canvas, Musée National Message Biblique Marc Chagall, Nice
King David (1952-54), stone stele (pierre de Rogne), 77.5x42.0x19.5 cm, Musee National message biblique Marc Chagall, Nice, France.
Song of David (1956), etching, plate 74. Franklin Bowles Galleries, New York
Song of the Bow (1956), etching, 12x9, plate 66, Franklin Bowles Galleries, New York
Ark Carried to Jerusalem (1956), etching, 12x9, plate 68.
Saul and David (1956), etching, 12x9, plate 61.

Jan de Bray (Dutch painter, 1627-1697), David Playing the Harp (1670) by oil on canvas, 142 x 154 cm, private collection.

Fra Angelico, King David playing a Psaltery (1430) Pen and brown ink and purple wash on vellum, 197 x 179 mm, British Museum, London. Another.

William Blake, David Delivered out of Many Waters (ca 1805), Pen and ink and watercolour on paper, 415 x 348 mm

Andrea Celesti (Venice painter, 1637-1712), King David Playing the Zither (), oil on canvas, 135x198 cm. Private collection.

Girolamo da Santa Croce, King David Playing a Psaltery.

Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish Baraque painter1577-1640).

Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Boeckhorst, King David Playing the Harp (c. 1616, finished1640s) Oil on Wood Panel, Stadel Art Institute (Städelsches Kunstinstitut), Frankfurt am Main, Germany. (facing left) Geistiger Vater des Psalter: König David beim Harfenspiel. Another large. Peter Paul Rubens und Jan Beockhorst; König David spielt die Harfe. Based on a head by rubens (c. 1616) as a study on a small board, enlarged after his death by his former collaborator Boeckhorst.
King David Playing the Harp (c. 1612), pen and brown ink and brown wash (181x150mm), Département des Arts Graphiques du Musée du Louvre, Paris

Pieter de Grebber (Dutch painter, ca. 1600-1653), King David in Prayer (1635-40), oil on canvas, 94x84 cm, Museum Catharijneconvent, Utrecht. Colorful with an angel. David as an old man in golden garment. Striking.

Frederick Leighton (English painter 1830-1896), David at Rest (1865), oil on fabric, 96.5x122.5 cm. Cleveland Museum of Art. The painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 1865 with a passage from Psalm 55: "Oh, that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest."

Moretto da Brescia (Itallian painter, 1498-1554), King David, Southesk Collection. Turbaned David with violin-type instrument.

Phillip Ratner (American painter, ___)

The 40th Psalm, Dennis and Phiillip Ratner Museum, Bethesda, MD
David, The Virtual Israel Bible Museum, Safad. Detail.
David, statue, resin, 12" high.
David, metal statue, Dennis and Phiillip Ratner Museum, Bethesda, MD
David the Psalmist, Israel Bible Museum, Safad, The Safad Bible.

Rembrandt (1606-1669)

David in Prayer (1652), etching and drypoint, 14.2x195. cm. Larger.
David Playing the Harp before Saul (c. 1656).. Oil on canvas. Mauritshuis, the Hague, Netherlands. Another.

Dante Gabriel Rosetti (British Pre-Raphaelite painter, 1828-1882)

King David (1858-64), watercolour on paper, 279 x 127 mm. from The Seed of David. Tate Collections
David (1858-64), watercolor on paper, 279x133mm. from the Seed of David. Tate Collections. Boy with sling.

Yoram Raanan, King David (2002-03), painting.

Matthias Scheits, David the Psalmist (1672), woodcut, From Biblia, das ist Die gantze H. Schrifft Alten und Newen Testaments, Deutsch.

Hermine F. Schäfer, King David, From Anne de Vries's Children's Bible.

Simeon Solomon (1840-1905), Hosanna (1881), engraved by the Brothers Dalziel. Tate Collections.

Ben Shahn (1898 - 1969), David with Lyre (ca. 1966), Ink brush drawing on rice paper, 513 x 513 mm, Chop; signed "Ben Shahn" lower right. Saint John's Abbey and University.

James J. Tissot (1836-1902, French artist and illustrator)

David Singing (1896-1900), watercolor. Psalms 57:7.
David Praying in the Night.

Annie Vallotton, The Lord is My Protector, simple line drawing of David with hands raised praising, illustration for 2 Samuel 22:2 from the Good New Bible.

Elizabeth Jane Gardner (1837-1922), The Shepherd David (ca. 1895), Oil on canvas; 61 1/2 x 42 3/8 in. (156.2 x 107.6 cm), National Museum of Women in the Arts. David rescuing a sheep from the lion.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini's sculpture of David.

Gerrit van Honthorst (1590-1656), King David Playing the Harp (1611), .82x65cm, Centraal Museum, Utrecht, Holland.

Gerrit van Honthorst (1590-1656), King David Playing the Harp (1611), .82x65cm, Centraal Museum, Utrecht, Holland. poster.

Hans Orlowski, Der Psalter (1961), 29 Original Holzschnitte - Spätwerk des HDK BERLIN Professors. another.

Albani-Psalter (1125), St. Albans.

Psalterium Sinaiticum 2/N (fol. 1r). Psalter from the Greek manuscript at St. Catherine's monastery, Mt. Sinai. Discovered 1975.

Psalter von 1505. Wertvolle mittelalterliche Handschriften erworben
Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Münster erhielt Psalter und Missale (1999).

Unknown artist

initials A.P., David with harp watching sheep, b&w illustration
David the Psalmist, 17th century, woodcut, Bible illustration
"Der Psalter," woodcut from illustrated German Bible, by Rudolf Schäfer (1929).
David Shepherd, singing praise, Moody Press
King David Playing a Harp

Stained Glass Windows

Charles J. Connick, David the Psalmist, Union Congregational Church, Montclair, New Jersey, USA

William Morris, King David, St. Martin's Church, Yorkshire. Marris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co.

David the Psalmist, Grace Lutheran Church, Jersey City, NJ

Praise the Lord based on Psalm 150, First Presbyterian Church, Glen Ellyn, IL Detail.

David, Church of the Lighted Window, La Canada Flintridge, California

Collections

Biblical Art on the WWW, Psalms, David at Prayer and Worship

Museum of the Psalms, Jerusalem, founded in 1995. Featuring the work of Moshe Tzvi HaLevi Berger, abstract visual depictions of each of the 150 psalms rendered over 15 years.

Reproductions of David's Lyre

John Wheeler, "King David's Harp" (abridged), with photo of Lyre from ancient Palestine. Discusses research on what a lyre was.

The Shepherds Lyre, AKA King David's Harp, By Phil ____.

David Hamilton, Lyre, reproduced by the Temple Institute, based on lyre on an ancient Temple coin of the Second Temple era. Mishkan Ministries.

"Silver Lyre" found at Ur (ca. 2600-2400 BC), British Museum. Description. Another. Golden Lyre.

Information on the Lyre

Psalter - Andreas Sumerauer

Biblical Musical Instruments

Egyptian Lyre

Musicians of Amun, Tomb of Nakht, 18th Dyn, Western Thebes. Wikipedia.

This famous portrait of three Jewish kinnor players (being taken captive by an Assyrian, far left) is excerpted from a bas-relief in the palace of Assurbanipal (705-681 B.C.) at Nineveh, portraying the fall of the Judean city of Lachish. While the strings of these lyres are not well-drawn (at least in this rendition), the middle one does seem to have seven strings.

Ancient Coins

Ancient coints from Palestine

Bronze 4-string lyre, "year one of the redemption of Israel," Bar Kokhba, 132 AD.

denarius, AR, 3 string lyre "For the freedom of Jerusalem." Bar Kokhba, 135-135 AD.

Illuminated manuscript of Hebrew psalter, Psalms 61, 62. Ms. Parm. 1870 (Cod. De Rossi 510), Palatina Library, Parma, italy.

Experiencing the Psalms