Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts

Picture Bible
France, Paris, ca. 1244-1254
MS M.638 fol. 42v

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Zone 1:
1) Bathsheba: told of Uriah's Death -- Bathsheba, veiled, with hands clasped, sits on bench at portal of house; messenger kneels, with staff in left hand, attended by man with hands raised. Illustration of II Samuel 11:26.
2) David: Marriage with Bathsheba -- One of eight flanking attendants places crown on veiled Bathsheba raising her left hand and joining her right hand with right hand of David, crowned, with his left hand holding cord of vair-lined mantle; another attendant holds gloves in left hand and raises right hand. Illustration of II Samuel 11:27.
Zone 2:
1) Bathsheba: Birth of Son -- Midwife, veiled, attends Bathsheba, veiled, pointing with right hand, in bed beneath curtains draped over rod; female servant, wearing snood, seated, rocks child in cradle.
2) David: rebuked by Nathan -- Bathsheba sits on bench, with child standing on her lap and holding spherical object. David, crowned, wearing vair-lined mantle, stands with hands raised and looks up at head of Christ-Logos, cross-nimbed, emerging from cloud, above Nathan, head draped, pointing to David. Illustration of II Samuel 12:1-14.
Scenes with architectural frames.