Fulget Master (Circle of Neri da Rimini), King David in an Initial D

Italian, before 1310
Tempera, gold, silver, and ink on parchment
On loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art

In I Samuel 16:1-13 God sends Samuel to tell Jesse to call his son David, who is tending sheep. Samuel then anoints David king. This image collapses the sequence: God himself calls David, who tends his sheep and already wears the crown of kingship. Interestingly, God is represented by the Son, the Good Shepherd whose ancestor David is to be.

Read more about images of King David.

Photographed at the museum by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.