King David with his Harp, Bible of Metz, Antique Chromolithograph, 1849

David sits crowned on a cushioned throne, his harp against his shoulder, in a miniature taken from the ninth century Bible of Metz. The sheet is lettered with the source and adds, beneath, a row of ornamental fragments drawn from other manuscripts of the same period: a winged horse, a figure stretched on a couch, a band of blue acanthus and a panel of gold and purple border. The palette is Carolingian throughout, gray and gold with strong accents of vermilion.

This is one of the chromolithographic plates of Le Moyen Age et la Renaissance, second volume, Paris, 1849, edited by Paul Lacroix with Ferdinand Sere as artistic director. The work was among the first large French publications to rely on color lithography throughout, and its plates were drawn directly from manuscripts, textiles, armor and goldsmiths' work in the public collections of Paris, Brussels and the German cities.

David with his harp is the single most repeated author portrait of the Middle Ages, painted at the head of psalter after psalter, and buyers recognize it immediately. The figure is large and centered, which makes this an easy sheet to frame and an easy one to hang alone, in a music room as readily as in a library. The sheet also carries, along its lower edge, a row of ornamental fragments drawn from other manuscripts of the same decade, which makes it useful to anyone interested in Carolingian ornament as well as in the figure itself.

Even age toning. Marked handling soiling along the right edge. All four corners complete.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.