Симболика и контекст сцене Давид удара у гусле Саулу у Капели III у Бавиту – прилог проучавању значења циклуса Давидовог живота у источнохришћанској уметности
The Symbolism and Context of the Scene David Playing Harp Before Saul in Chapel III at Bawit – a Contribution to the Study of the Meaning of the David Cycle in Eastern Christian Art

Summary/Abstract: This paper deals with the fresco depicting Prophet David Playing the Harp before Saul from Chapel III in the Coptic monastery complex at Bawit in Upper Egypt (6th–7th century). Today, it is known only from a watercolour painted at the beginning of the 20th century (Fig. 1). It is one of the rare representations of this subject in art created under Byzantine cultural influence. Taking into consideration the function of this chapel, the central idea of its painted program (Figs. 2 and 3), the David cycles in Byzantine art, as well the Old-Testament interpretations of the Church Fathers, the fresco has been explained in the context of the victory of virtue over vice, and the cycle of David is understood in this sense as a model for the monks in their struggle to acquire virtues and attain the Kingdom of Heaven. The presence of specific archaic iconographic details in the Bawit scene supports this interpretation.

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