David offert aan God

King David is shown in a state of prayerful surrender beside his harp, offering a sacrifice to halt a devastating pestilence. To the left, the Prophet Gad gestures toward the King, while an angel in the sky holds both a sword and a skull with scourges, representing the divine punishment brought about by David's forbidden census. In the background, the grim reality of the plague is visible in the numerous bodies strewn across the landscape outside the city walls.

This work captures the 'Choice of David,' a narrative from 2 Samuel used in the early modern period to contemplate divine justice and the 'memento mori' tradition. The Sadelers were central to the dissemination of Netherlandish Mannerism and worked within circles that blended orthodox theology with the emerging intellectual interest in divine providence and natural philosophy.