On the sacral meaning of the musical instrument and the role of prophet David in the scene of the Death of the Rigtheous man. A contribution to the study of the visual representations of musical instruments in the east-Christian sacral art

Abstract

The Old Testament prophet David was known in sacred history as the King of Jews, as a prophet, the compiler of the Psalter, but also as a musician. Therefore, he is usually depicted with certain musical instruments in his hands in Eastern Christian art that illustrates sacred history or the biblical narrative. Although the representations of musical instruments in the art of the lands under the Byzantine cultural and spiritual influence have been minutely analysed, the existing art still provides opportunities for further research. Until present day most attention was given to the organographic analysis of the musical instruments (M. Velimirovic, D. Devic, R. Pejovic), while their meaning and the role in the scenes have remained insufficiently addressed. The scene analysed in this paper allows for both types of analysis. What is interesting from the iconographic and organographic point of view is the fact that the musical instruments with which Emperor David is portrayed in the scenes of the Death of the Righteous man are different. On this occasion, we will look at scenes of the Death of the Righteous man in the time span from the thirteenth to the seventeenth centuries in Byzantine art, as well as Serbian, Russian and Romanian ecclesiastical art after 1453 from the aspect of iconography. Special attention will be paid to the justification of the reasons for the appearance of certain instruments in the hands of King David, as well as their meanings.