Illumination of David

Unknown (Byzantine)

Item type:

miniature

Date of creation:

1059

Technique / Medium:

parchment

Additional titles

Description

Fol. 7v consists of two miniatures. The second one depicts, on the top left corner, a musician holding a double-skin barrel-drum that he plays with a stick and behind him another musician that holds a pair of cymbals. On the top right corner there are two musicians, one that plays a triangular psaltery and another one that plays a transverse flute. On the bottom left corner three musicians can be seen, playing a quadrilateral psaltery, a trumpet and possibly a bagpipe. On the bottom right corner there are four more musicians, playing a bowed string instrument, a trumpet, an aulos and a pair of cymbals.

People as subjects

David, King of Israel

Iconclass

48C753
more than one musician with instrument
11I62(DAVID)33
David as psalmist, as author of the psalms, usually playing the harp

Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)

Barrel drum [2504]
Cymbals [2451]
Psaltery (triangular)
Transverse flute [4093]
Bowed string instrument (undetermined)
End-blown trumpet [6556]
Bagpipe [3746]
Psaltery (rectangular)
Aulos [4173]

Image URLs

image link 1
image link 2

RIdIM record id

7075

Data provider

Koç University – Stavros Niarchos Foundation Center for Late Antique and Byzantine Studies (GABAM) and The Friends of Music Society in Athens launched the Byzantine Musical Instruments Project in 2018 with Dr. Antonios Botonakis, under the scientific supervision of Prof. Nikos Maliaras. In 2020, the results of the research were integrated with Koç University Suna Kıraç Library’s website to present an online database with various filters to help researchers make in-depth research.
The main objective of the project was to thoroughly document the depictions of Byzantine musical instruments. During the research, a great number of visual representations on artefacts from the wider geographic area of the Byzantine Empire were studied. In the database more than 400 visual representations of musical instruments spread across 136 different cultural institutions in 27 countries around the world are presented to researchers.
In order to encompass the rich variety of the instruments used in the Byzantine times, some recurring visuals have been eliminated from the database to make room for unique visuals. Since the research was conducted by a Post-Doctorate researcher who is a musicologist, the database demonstrating the iconography also provides a unique classification of instruments. This project is a natural partner for the RIdIM database of performing arts images from all cultures and eras.
Project Direction- Engin Akyürek | Scientific Supervision- Nikos Maliaras | Scientific Research- Antonios K. Botonakis | Content Editor & Turkish Translation- Merve Özkılıç | Project Coordination- Barış Altan, Alexandros Charkiolakis | Digital Collection Technical Support- Senem Acar (Digital collection archivist), George Boumpous, Vera Kriezi, Sina Mater (Web design) | Funded by: Koç University – Stavros Niarchos Foundation Center for Late Antique and Byzantine Studies (GABAM)