Saul Hurls His Spear at David

Gustave Doré · 1866 (designs for La Sainte Bible, Tours); this printing 1873–1874
National Library of Poland, Warsaw

The engraver A. Ligny signed this plate at the bottom right. Doré drew it for the Tours Bible of 1866, catching the instant of the throw, as a photograph might.

In a long palace hall Saul lunges forward and hurls his spear; its point flies just past David’s head. David, a curly-haired youth, presses back against the wall, still holding his tall harp. Light streams in along the colonnade, throwing both men’s shadows onto the bare plaster.

From the text

David “played the harp as usual” (1 Samuel 18:10)

“Now Saul was holding a spear” (1 Samuel 18:10)

“I will pin David to the wall.” (1 Samuel 18:11)

The artist’s own

Column capitals and a frieze of grapevines in an Egyptian and Assyrian manner

A tall harp with a carved head at its foot

Saul in a turban and long strings of beads

Details

David

The young harpist shrinks back against the wall.

The harp

He still grips his tall, carved harp.

Saul

The king lunges forward, his robe flying behind him.

The spear

Its point flies just past David’s head.

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. 75 · 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.