King David kneeling in prayer, historiated initial on a cutting from a manuscript choirbook, on vellum [southern Netherlands (probably Bruges), c.1510-20]

a cutting, 132mm. by 123mm., with a large initial 'A' (probably opening "Ad te levavi ...", the introit from the opening of a Gradual), formed of realistic woody sprigs and elaborate scrolling acanthus-leaf sprays in brown heightened with liquid gold on dark green grounds within a brown and gold frame, enclosing David kneeling with his harp, crown and sceptre before him, another tiny scene of him kneeling in supplication in a cave within a rocky outcrop behind, all before a wide sprawling landscape with a lake in which a man lets his horse drink, a medieval city and blue hills and a mountain, small smudges, scuffs and areas of damage, remains of 3 lines of text on verso with music on a 4-line stave and one initial in blue with red penwork, large wooden frame

This is an excellent miniature by an accomplished artist of the Bruges school. His handling of drapery echoes that of the Master of the First Prayer Book of Maximilian (fl. c.1475-1520; see Kren and McKendrick, Illuminating the Renaissance, 2003, no.105), but he truly excels in his handling of the background with its tiny scenes of David in the cave and the man watering his horse, and David's facial features, unruly beard and cascading hair, which suggest the influence of Simon Bening (1483-1561; cf. Kren and McKendrick, no.154).