Master of the Ingeborg Psalter, King David in an Initial S
After 1205
Manuscript illumination
The J. Paul Getty Museum (MS. 66 [99.MK.48], folio 70v.
The text begins Salvum me fac Deus quoniam [intrave]runt aque usque ad animam meam. Infixus sum in limo profundi et non est substantia, "Save me, O God: for the waters are come in even unto my soul. I stick fast in the mire of the deep: and there is no sure standing."
The commentators on Psalm 68 surveyed in the Glossa Ordinaria assume (III, 923-26) that the speaker of this psalm is Christ suffering on the day of his crucifixion. Consequently the artist has placed beside David's portrait a "double" representing Christ in the form of a crowned griffin. Griffins can represent either the devil or Christ; here the latter is indicated by the crown and the context.
The portrait of Christ in the upper section is based on "
Christ Pantocrator"" images.
View this image in full resolution.
Read more about images of King David.
Read more about the griffin symbol.
Photographed at the site by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.