David
David is one of the most important heroes and kings of Israel in the Old Testament. He was a good soldier who expanded his kingdom in all directions, conquered Jerusalem and turned it into his capital. He is regarded as the forefather of Christ: God promised David that his “…house and … kingdom shall endure forever”.
David was designated as a future king of Israel when he was still a shepherd boy. The story about him fighting the Philistine hero Goliath, in which he subdues the giant using a sling shot, also originates from that time.
The brave and smart victory of the herdsboy over Goliath symbolizes David´s fight against the Philistines and their submission when he was the King of Israel, which in turn proclaims the victory of God over the Devil. During the Italian Renaissance, David was regarded as a symbol of fighting for freedom and resistance to tyranny. The image on the bench end is interpreted as a symbol of disagreements between the lower town of Tallinn and the upper town Toompea, where David was the embodiment of the lower city dominated by the council. One of the examples and a climax of those exaggerated disagreements described in historical literature is the case of Riisipere lord of the manor Johann von Uexküll, which in fact took place one century after the bench was made, in the 16th century. (You can get more information about the incident in the cellar of the Town Hall).
Viewing the benches of the Town Hall as a whole, David´s fight with Goliath is regarded as a symbol of heroism. A brave soldier and a great leader, a fair ruler, a poet and a musician – these qualities made David one of the most dignified heroes of medieval times and a role model for other kings. However, as a man, he could not resist the beauty of the female body and his erotic passion. This is why he is depicted alongside Samson, Aristotle, and Tristan on bench ends in the Town Hall.
The craftsman of the backrest of the Town Hall bench is unknown, but the style hints to Flemish artists. Goliath is depicted similarly on a relief of Saint George on the side panel of the Altarpiece of the Crucifxion in the Carthusian monastery in Champmol, made by the famous Flemish artist Jacques de Baerze (ca. 1390, near Dijon, the former capital of the Dutchy of Burgundy). Local artists in Tallinn were also influenced by the Flemish school, mainly due to the import of the Flemish altarpieces, one of the most outstanding of which is the Altarpiece of the Virgin Mary of the Brotherhood of the Blackheads in Tallinn (at present it is in the Niguliste Museum).
David fighting Goliath
(Old Testament, the 1st Book of Samuel 17)
After Samuel the prophet, by the order of God, anointed David as the future King of Israel, David continued grazing his father´s sheep. At that time, his older brothers were fighting in Saul´s army against the Philistines, who had invaded Israel. The hero of the Philistines, the giant Goliath, wanted to resolve the battle with a duel: the loser’s forces would submit to the winner’s. Once David’s father sent him to the battlefield to bring food to his brothers and to see how they were doing. David saw the giant and heard his challenge. David offered to confront Goliath. The King thought that a young and inexperienced herdsboy would not be able to defeat the invincible hero, but David said:
“Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine /…/ will be like one of them /…./.”
After hearing this, King Saul agreed to allow David to participate in the battle and gave him armour and a sword. But David was not accustomed to armour and took it off. He took his shepherd´s stick, chose five smooth stones from the stream, and put them into his bag. Then he stepped out face to face with the mighty Philistine soldier.
David took a stone from his bag, slung it and struck the giant on his forehead. Goliath fell down. David took his sword from the sheath and cut off his head with it. The Philistines fled when they saw that their hero was dead.
David and Bathsheba
(Old Testament, the 2nd Book of Samuel 11–12 )
Once on a beautiful evening, David was taking a walk on the roof of his castle and saw a beautiful lady taking a bath in the yard of one of the houses. Her beauty raised an irresistible desire in him. He found out that she was the wife of his soldier Uriah. David ordered his servants to bring the woman to him and he slept with her. The woman became pregnant. In order to hide what he had done, David ordered that Uriah return from the battlefield to his chamber and sleep with his wife, so that he would believe he was the father of the baby that would soon be born. However, in solidarity with other soldiers, Uriah refused to leave the battlefield for the night and to stay with his wife. Realizing that he could not conceal his actions, David sent Uriah back to the battlefield with a note to his commander ordering that Uriah be sent to the frontlines, so that he would be killed. After Uriah´s death, David brought Bathsheba to his palace. However, God condemned his actions through Nathan the Prophet and said that David would be punished. Bathsheba´s son died, and David´s rule ended through a series of events which brought death and disgrace to him and his people. Bathsheba´s next son Solomon became the new king after David.
David as a Slave of Love
The most common image from this story is of Bathsheba taking a bath and David observing her from his roof. The majority of these paintings belong to the Renaissance or later periods. For example, in 1521 Albrecht Dürer designed wallpaintings for the Nuremberg Town Hall (Germany) where he depicted David and Bathsheba together with Samson and Delilah as well as Aristotle and Phyllis.
In medieval art Bathsheba is rarely depicted. The reason for this is that it was not common in those times to depict a naked female body (except for Eve). On the bench end in Tallinn Town Hall, David is also depicted as a hero in the battle with Goliath. The lion and the bear at the bottom of the bench end reflect David´s words to King Saul before he started the battle: “Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine /…/ will be like one of them /…./. The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine”. The message is the following: David´s love for God helped him win, but the earthly love and the lusts of the flesh caused his fall. Thus, one image hides two stories within itself, connecting the images on the benches into a unified whole.
