id: 159895 accession number: 1997.189 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1997.189 updated: David Playing the Harp before Saul, 1555. After Frans Floris (Netherlandish, 1519–1570). Chiaroscuro woodcut; sheet: 33.4 x 47.9 cm (13 1/8 x 18 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1997.189 title: David Playing the Harp before Saul title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1555 creation date earliest: 1555 creation date latest: 1555 current location: creditline: John L. Severance Fund copyright: --- culture: Netherlands, 16th century technique: chiaroscuro woodcut department: Prints collection: PR - Chiaroscuro type: Print find spot: catalogue raisonne: Hollstein I, Strauss 101, Bialler 3a/e --- CREATORS * Frans Floris (Netherlandish, 1519–1570) - artist --- measurements: Sheet: 33.4 x 47.9 cm (13 1/8 x 18 7/8 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: description: beige (2) laid paper watermarks: inscriptions: inscription: in block, " SAVL I REG CA XVI/FRACISCVS FLORIS INVETOR IVDOCE DL CVRIA EXCVDERAT 1555". (Later) inscriptions in the image penned in black. VERSO: Additional inscriptions in brown ink and graphite. translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: From Rembrandt to Rauschenberg: Recently Acquired Prints opening date: 2000-09-17T00:00:00 From Rembrandt to Rauschenberg: Recently Acquired Prints. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (September 17-November 26, 2000). title: Against the Grain: Woodcuts from the Collection opening date: 2003-08-17T00:00:00 Against the Grain: Woodcuts from the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 17-November 9, 2003). title: Themes and Variations: Musical Drawings and Prints opening date: 2015-01-25T00:00:00 Themes and Variations: Musical Drawings and Prints. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 25-May 17, 2015). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE Pierre Mariette, Paris (Lugt 1790), inscribed P. Mariette 1668 date: footnotes: citations: King Friedrich August II, Dresden (Lugt 971) date: footnotes: citations: Pierre Mariette, Paris (Lugt 1790), inscribed P. Mariette 1668; King Friedrich August II, Dresden (Lugt 971) date: footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: The soothing effect of David’s music upon the melancholic King Saul, as relayed in the Old Testament and depicted here by Frans Floris, is the earliest visual evidence of the therapeutic use of music. Floris’s woodcut would have had contemporary relevance in its affirmation of Martin Luther’s belief that music-a divine power that creates order—had been made by God to combat the destructive power of evil. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Cleveland Museum of Art, “Major European Porcelain Crucifix, Pre-Columbian Figure, and Other Works Added to CMA Collection,” December 3, 1997, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. page number: url: https://archive.org/details/cmapr4165 --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1997.189/1997.189_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1997.189/1997.189_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1997.189/1997.189_full.tif