Ruth Karras, Trinity College Dublin: ‘Performance, Prophecy, and Masculinity: King David and the Psalms’

From Anne of Brittany’s prayer-book (ca. 1499), Chicago, Newberry Library MS Vault Case MS 83. (https://www.newberry.org/rights-and-reproductions-faqs : ‘The Newberry makes its collections available for any lawful purpose, commercial or non-commercial, without licensing or permission fees to the library, subject to the following terms and conditions’ etc.)

Medieval Christians considered the biblical King David to be a military hero (one of the Nine Worthies) but it was his connection with the Psalms, all of which he was believed to have written, that was the key to his role as a prophet. This paper looks at the way David was depicted in texts and images across the Middle Ages as a harpist, considering the difference between musical composition and performance and the relation of both to masculinity.