This illustration was created by an unknown 15th-century artist who worked on a copy of the Weltchronik (or World Chronicle) by Rudolf von Ems (c. 1200 – 1254). Funded by Holy Roman Emperor Conrad IV of Germany and Naples (r. 1237-1254), the Weltchronik provides a poetic narrative of biblical and historical events, covering times from the creation of the world to the era of King Solomon. Coverage would have allegedly extended all the way to the era of Conrad’s own Hohenstaufen Dynasty, but the project was cut short due to Rudolf von Ems’ death in 1254. Medieval manuscripts of the Weltchronik were usually illuminated with illustrations. In the case of the artwork featured above, the illustration was meant to serve as a visual aid alongside Rudolf’s poetic account of Saul and the Witch of Endor.
Rudolf von Ems’s poetry, and the unidentified artist’s illustration, re-creates the tale of King Saul of Israel (dated to the 11th century BC) meeting with an intriguing woman known as the Witch of Endor. As the biblical story goes, the witch was a master of divination with a specialty in using necromancy to summon ghosts that possessed knowledge about the future. King Saul—who was on the eve of a battle with his persistent foe, the Philistines—sought out the witch and requested that she summon the ghost of the deceased prophet, Samuel. As the illustration portrays, the king and the witch did, indeed, have a meeting. After a discussion, the Witch of Endor agreed to summon the ghost of Samuel and successfully lured the spirit of the prophet into appearing before King Saul. Unfortunately for the king, the late prophet’s newest prophecy was not a good one—Samuel told Saul that the forces of Israel would be defeated in the upcoming battle with the Philistines, and that Saul and his sons would be killed. The illustration above likely depicts the moments before or after Samuel’s appearance, as no ghostly figure is present in the artwork. Whatever the case, Samuel’s prediction proved true and the destruction of Saul’s family paved the way for King David’s ascendance.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Sources:
- The New Oxford Annotated Bible: New Revised Standard Version With The Apocrypha (Fifth Edition, Fully Revised), edited by Michael D. Coogan and associates. Oxford University Press, 2018.
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Conrad-IV
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rudolf-von-Ems
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saul-king-of-Israel
- https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/105T8W
