King David from BL Add 11639, f. 117v

Full-page miniature of King David playing a harp. Caption: 'This is King David playing a harp'. Image taken from f. 117v of Miscellany of biblical and other texts ('The Northern French Miscellany' or earlier 'the British Museum Miscellany'): including the Pentateuch, ~Haftarot~, ~Tiqqun Sofrim~, Five Scrolls, prayer book for the entire year with Haggadah, legal texts, poetry, calendars, Book of Tobit in Hebrew, etc. Written in Hebrew.

David was a skilled musician and poet, and he played the harp to soothe King Saul when he was tormented by evil spirits. David's musical abilities and his role as a psalmist also led him to be associated with the worship of God and with the expression of devotion and praise. The image of David playing the harp remains a symbol of the connection between music, worship, and devotion in Western tradition.