Illumination of David and his musicians

Unknown (Byzantine)

Item type:

miniature

Date of creation:

1100-1149

Technique / Medium:

parchment

Additional titles

Description

David is standing in the middle of the miniature. At the right part a group of musicians is depicted. From left to right the musicians are playing a pair of small cymbals, an aulos, a double-skin barrel-drum with a stick and perhaps a bowed string instrument.

People as subjects

David, King of Israel

Iconclass

11I62(DAVID)34
David as psalmist with his four musicians

Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)

Cymbals [2451]
Aulos [4173]
Barrel drum [2504]
Bowed string instrument (undetermined)

Image URLs

image link 1

RIdIM record id

7096

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)