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David in the
Polirone Psalter, before 1086AD
Salterio di Polirone
Mantua, Biblioteca Comunale, ms. 340, 105v
An 11th century psalter from the north Italian monastery of Polirone.
A translation from the German of an extract from David rex et propheta by Sibylle Walther:
More David scenes illustrate the apocryphal Psalm 151, which concerns the youth of the king (Fig. 3). Here are the representations, three mounted on each side of the text on the side edges. Above left you can see the anointing of David by Samuel. On the right, David who guards his flock. Below them are David's battle with the lion and David versus Goliath. Right at the bottom is David playing before Saul and the scene of the beheading of Goliath. All six figures relate to I Samuel 16 and 17 and show David's good qualities: his humility before God and responsibility to the flock, his strength, intelligence and courage against the enemy. Thanks to the formal arrangement the following interpretation is worked out: The fight with the lion is parallel to the fight against Goliath. David, through his playing drives out the evil spirit which afflicted Saul, is parallel to the beheading of Goliath. David's victory over evil is thus illustrated repeatedly.
Source: David rex et propheta by Sibylle Walther
The Abbey of San Benedetto in Polirone is a large complex of Benedictine order monastic buildings, including a church and cloisters, located in the town of San Benedetto Po, Province of Mantua, Region of Lombardy, Italy. The abbey was founded in 1007 by Tedald, count of Canossa, the paternal grandfather of Matilda of Canossa, countess of Tuscany, with a grant to the Benedictine monks, of half his land lying between the rivers Po and Lirone, prompting the title "in Polirone".