David Pointing to His Eye

King David points to his eye as he addresses the Lord, pictured within a pink cloud above. Because medieval readers would have understood a direct connection between light and the sense of sight, this gesture illustrates the opening words of the text in red just below the miniature, "The Lord is my light and my salvation" (Psalm 26:1). The anonymous illuminator, known as the Master of Jean de Mandeville, concentrated the viewer's attention on the exchange between David and the Lord by isolating the figures in front of a delicately patterned background. Because medieval Christians believed David to be the author of the psalms, they found it particularly appropriate that he should be shown acting out the psalm's text.