The Psalter of Basil II, 11th century

Marcian Library, Venice, Italy, (Cod. Marciana Gr. Z. 17. (=421) panel 4, Guardia anteriore: IVv)

David and Goliath

A larger image of David and Goliath in the Psalter of Basil II, Byzantine, 11th century.
Marcian Library, Venice, Italy, (Cod. Marciana Gr. Z. 17. (=421) Guardia anteriore: IVv)

Titolo: Venezia, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Gr. Z. 17 (=421)
Localizzazione: Biblioteca nazionale Marciana - Venezia - IT-VE0049
Identificativo: CSTOR.240.9608 VE0049_Gr_Z_0017_00421 ARM0000469
Source: Biblioteca nazionale Marciana

Referenced on p37, MAA 89 Byzantine Armies 886-1118 by Ian Heath & Angus McBride
David and Goliath scene from the ~~Menologium~~ [Psalter] of Basil II, c. 1017. ‘Goliath’ is a good example of an 11th-century heavy infantryman, wearing the usual lamellar corselet with fringe and pteruges plus the sash of an officer. His helmet, and those of the leather-armoured ‘Israelites’ crowded behind the hill, is of a new brimmed variety, reminiscent of a kettle-helmet, which seems to first start appearing at about this date. The figure of David, in lower-class costume and armed only with a sling, can probably be taken as representative of the appearance of soldiers’ servants on the battlefield (see Plate B1). (Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Venice)

The Portrait of Basil II in his Psalter, Marcian Library, Venice, Italy, (Cod. Marciana Gr. Z. 17. (=421) Guardia anteriore: IIIr)