Single Leaf Excised from a Psalter: Initial D[ominus illuminatio mea] with Samuel Anointing David

Unknown French painter · c. 1270–1290
The Cleveland Museum of Art

This leaf comes from a psalter made in northeastern France about 1270–1290. Psalm 27 begins “Dominus illuminatio mea”, and the painter set the scene inside its first letter, D.

The letter is laid with burnished gold leaf. Samuel, with a halo, pours oil from a horn on the head of young David, who bows; an older man in a pointed hat watches at the left.

From the text

Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him (1 Samuel 16:13)

Jesse sends for his youngest son (1 Samuel 16:12)

The artist’s own

The scene squeezed inside a letter of the psalm

A dragon-headed letter, a playful habit of the time

Details

Samuel

The haloed prophet tips a horn of oil.

David

A young man bows his head.

The onlooker

A man in a pointed hat — perhaps Jesse.

Dragon head

The letter ends in a small beast’s head.

Unknown illuminator, Northeastern France. The Cleveland Museum of Art (John L. Severance Fund, 1985.82) · ink, tempera, and gold on vellum · Cleveland Museum of Art Open Access: Collection API record "share_license_status": "CC0" (Creative Commons Zero, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/).

The verses

1 Sam 16:11–13And Samuel asked him, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” Jesse replied, “but he is tending the sheep.” “Send for him,” Samuel replied. “For we will not sit down to eat until he arrives.” So Jesse sent for his youngest son and brought him in. He was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the LORD said, “Rise and anoint him, for he is the one.” So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. Then Samuel set out and went to Ramah.