The Last Judgment and David in Prayer

The Penitential Psalms, a compilation of seven psalms united by the common theme of repentance, are introduced by a most distinctive two-page opening in this Flemish book of hours: a full-page miniature of the Last Judgment paired with a smaller miniature of King David in prayer.

Christ sits on a double rainbow surrounded by Mary, Saint John the Baptist, a cardinal, a pope, two bishops, and a pair of trumpet blowing angels. Below, the twelve apostles look up while praying as the dead rise from their graves. The saved emerge from a tent in the border at the left, while the damned peer helplessly out of a tiny mouth of hell in the border at the right. The image of Christ seated in judgment provided a meditational focus for the recitation of the psalms, urging sinners to repent before death.

The theme of David in prayer often introduces the Penitential Psalms in books of hours. Not only was David traditionally identified as the author of the psalms, but he served as a model for penitence. After his adultery with Bathsheba, he was rebuked by the prophet Nathan and repented. Here he appears on his knees, speaking directly from his heart to the Lord.

The repetition of the colors of green, blue, and gold, the depiction of large lilies in the borders, and the inclusion of a banderole issuing from the miniature into the border foliage matches the decorative scheme of the preceding image of the Last Judgment, producing a harmonious double-page opening.