# David Playing the Harp before Saul [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [LEYDEN, Lucas van]() - Date: 1501-1550 - Technique: Engraving, 254 x 184 mm ## Commentary David Playing the Harp before Saul c. 1508 Engraving, 254 x 184 mm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York In this print Lucas presents two large figures in a cramped throne room. He selected an unusual moment to illustrate the story of the mad king about to cast his lance at David, who plays his harp to soothe Saul's melancholy. The actual violence is not depicted, but rather the moment before the hurling of the lance, when Saul is brooding over his jealousy of the youth. ## Related artworks - [Abraham and Isaac on Their Way to the Place of Sacrifice]() - [Adam and Eve \(Expulsion from the Paradise\)]() - [Adam and Eve]() - [Cain Killing Abel]() - [Cain Killing Abel]() - [Card Players]() - [Card Players]() - [Card Players]() - [Christ Healing the Blind \(detail\)]() - [Christ Healing the Blind]() - [Crucifixion]() - [Dance of Mary Magdalen]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()