He lifts the piece cut from Saul’s robe toward the cliff.
Bible in art · 1 Samuel
David Shows Saul He Spared His Life
Gustave Doré · 1866 (designs for La Sainte Bible, Tours); this printing 1873–1874
National Library of Poland, Warsaw
Like most of Doré’s Bible plates, this one was cut by a professional engraver who signed at the bottom right, with Doré’s signature at the left. Doré turns the story as much into a landscape as into a scene.
He builds a deep gorge. At the bottom, on a rock in front of a dark cave, David holds up a piece of cloth toward the cliff above, while his men wait behind him. High on the rim, Saul’s horsemen and spearmen stand against a cloudy sky, small beside the rock walls.
From the text
- David “went out of the cave, and called out to Saul” (1 Samuel 24:8)
- “look at the corner of your robe in my hand” (1 Samuel 24:11)
- “I spared you” (1 Samuel 24:10)
The artist’s own
- Saul’s army on horseback along the top of the cliff — the text has Saul simply look behind him
- Birds flying out of the cave
- A deep canyon with sheer rock walls
Details
David
Saul’s army
Horsemen and spearmen line the rim of the gorge.
The cave
A dark opening in the rock, with birds flying out.
David’s men
His companions wait with spears at the mouth of the cave.
Gustave Doré, French, 1832–1883. National Library of Poland (Biblioteka Narodowa), Warsaw — «Pismo Święte Starego i Nowego Testamentu», vol. 1, Warsaw: M. Glücksberg, 1873 (acc. 75.267 A), tabl. 77 · Wood engraving after Gustave Doré’s design · National Library of Poland (Polona): the record of the volume gives the licence «Domena Publiczna» (Public Domain), «copyrightProtected»: false; the scan was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons by the library itself («Polona Upload», GLAM-Wiki partnership: “This file was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons as part of a GLAM-Wiki partnership between the National Library of Poland and Wikimedia Polska”), linking its Polona record.