3-039-472 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Initial E: David Playing the Harp and a Man Heaving a Rock, text and illumination about 1285. David, who was believed to be the author of the psalms, is shown here in an initial to Psalm 80 accomanying himself on the harp. The elegant instrument terminates in an animal's head like that of the whimsical winged creature below the initial. Above David, a man is shown heaving rocks, which may refer to the line, "He relieved his shoulder of the burdens," in the text of the psalm.