David Praying

Lucas van Leyden · c. 1508
National Gallery of Art, Washington

Lucas van Leyden engraved this print in Leiden around 1508, close in time to his print of David playing for Saul. Every fold of the robe and every patch of fur is cut in fine lines in the copper.

King David kneels in an open landscape with his hands joined, looking up. His harp lies on the grass, his sceptre and cap on the ground. On a cloud above, God appears holding an orb and an arrow. Writers on the print often link it to the plague after David’s census.

From the text

David: “I have sinned greatly in what I have done” (2 Samuel 24:10)

Three choices: famine, flight, or three days of plague (2 Samuel 24:13)

“Let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are great” (2 Samuel 24:14)

The artist’s own

God as an old man in a papal tiara with an orb — a common picture of God in Lucas’s time

An arrow in God’s hand — painters often used arrows as a sign of plague

A Netherlandish town with a church, castle and gate tower

The harp, sceptre and cap laid aside on the ground

Details

David prays

The king kneels on his cloak, hands joined, and looks up.

On a cloud

God in a papal tiara, with an orb and an arrow pointing down.

The harp

David’s harp lies on the grass.

Sceptre

His sceptre lies on the ground.

Royal cap

A cap with a crown band, taken off.

A Dutch town

A church and castle of Lucas’s own country.

Lucas van Leyden, Netherlandish, c. 1489/94–1533. National Gallery of Art, Washington (Rosenwald Collection, 1943.3.5656) · Engraving · NGA Open Access: "Images of these works are available free of charge for any use, commercial or non-commercial, under Creative Commons Zero (CC0)." (NGA open data: published_images.csv openaccess = 1)

The verses

2 Sam 24:10–15After David had numbered the troops, his conscience was stricken and he said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, O LORD, I beg You to take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.” When David got up in the morning, a revelation from the LORD had come to Gad the prophet, David’s seer: “Go and tell David that this is what the LORD says: ‘I am offering you three options. Choose one of them, and I will carry it out against you.’” So Gad went and said to David, “Do you choose to endure three years of famine in your land, three months of fleeing the pursuit of your enemies, or three days of plague upon your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should reply to Him who sent me.” David answered Gad, “I am deeply distressed. Please, let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.” So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel from that morning until the appointed time, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died.