International studio (55.1915)

What Tale does this Tapestry Tell ?


DAVID PLAYING THE TINTINNABULUM

the window were contemporary with the artist.
Here we have David Playing the Tintinnabulum.
This is from a French Book of Hours of the late
fourteenth century, and shows David behind a
Gothic §creen, seated upon a Gothic stool, playing
a Gothic musical instrument.
Again, David Kneeling in Prayer is the work of
an Italian artist of the school of Giulio Clovio,
found in a Book of Hours written on parchment,
with the calendar in French. An inscription at
the end of the book says that it was written in the
Noble House and Abbey of Saint Armand in the
year of grace 1537, at the request of Maistre
Frangois du Guelin. It was probably for a mem-
ber of the Orleans family, as the Orleans arms
occur at the foot of many pages. The artist has
represented David in the clothing of the time, and
has shown us a portrait of the noble patron for
whom the book was written.
Nor is it any argument against the undoubted
meaning of the tapestry that the artist does not
depict the Orient alone. That “ there is no turban
to be seen” and hence no David, as Mr. de Kay
urges, is really quite amusing.
The mediaeval artists represented David as a
king, and the king the public then knew wore a
crown (not a turban) and ermine, and hence
David was so represented, though it can safely be
assumed that he never really wore ermine and that
in the hot climate of Palestine no person else did,
nor probably ever heard of the beast.
Consider David Being Offered the Crown. He is
shown with ermine and with a crown on his head,
although the youth is kneeling to offer a crown to

him, and though David, when the offer was made,
had never worn one. In the same scene is shown
the youth being executed for his temerity. This
is from a Latin Bible (Royal Manuscript in the
British Museum, I, E o), written and illuminated
in the early part of the fifteenth century.
Here is David Playing upon the Harp, with
crown and ermine as usual, painted by an Italian
artist the early part of the fifteenth century. It is
a capital letter B taken from a missal or psalter.
We have David Praying, from a Book of Hours,
Ad Usum Gallicanum,” written in bold Gothic
and illuminated by a French artist the early part
of the fifteenth century. Note the French archi-
tecture of the room and the diamond panes of
glass in the windows.
The crown, not the turban, was so essential to
the picture of David that here is a Norman artist
who in the latter part of the fourteenth century
has shown us David doing some bathing on his
own account. He wears the crown while in the
water, and the harp, which is left on the bank, made
sure that the mediaeval reader would not mistake.


DAVID KNEELING IN PRAYER

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