3-035-762 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Mercy: David Spareth Saul's Life, 1854. King David exemplified mercy and self-restraint in preventing his companion Abishai from killing the sleeping King Saul (1 Samuel 26: 5-10). The simple, dramatic composition and statuesque main figures give this small, slightly eerie, moonlit scene a monumental quality. Yet the rhythm from the flowing movement and patterns of the garments enlivens the rocky desert setting and prevents the composition from being purely static. Richard Dadd's lightened palette, fascination with detail, and interest in decorative patterning typify mid-1800s English painting.