A shrouded figure rises from the rock, hardly more than a shadow.
Bible in art · 1 Samuel
Saul and the Medium of Endor
Gustave Doré · 1866 (designs for La Sainte Bible, Tours); this printing 1873–1874
National Library of Poland, Warsaw
Doré drew this scene for the Tours Bible of 1866, and a wood engraver turned his grey washes into fine lines. The ghost is made of pale, wavering strokes, so it seems to melt into the rock.
On the left a tall shrouded figure rises out of the rock — Samuel, pale as smoke. The medium, seen from behind, points at him. On the right Saul sinks back into the arms of his men, while one of them throws up both hands in fear. In the corner lie a bronze bowl, a staff and snakes.
From the text
- “Bring up Samuel,” Saul replied (1 Samuel 28:11)
- “An old man is coming up,” she replied. “And he is wearing a robe.” (1 Samuel 28:14)
- “Immediately Saul fell flat on the ground, terrified by the words of Samuel” (1 Samuel 28:20)
The artist’s own
- A bowl on legs, a staff and snakes — the tools of a sorceress as artists imagined them
- Saul fainting into his men’s arms rather than lying flat on the ground
- A night sky of rolling clouds
Details
Samuel
The medium
Seen from behind, she points toward the figure.
Saul
The king collapses into the arms of his companions.
Bowl and snakes
A metal bowl, a staff and snakes lie on the ground.
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. 78 · 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.