Background photo: David by Michelangelo/Corbis
Much of Professor Robert Alter's commentary on King David highlights the process of gradual, ultimately drastic change in David's character as he devolves from a bright young hero to a helpless old man. He is portrayed in the aquarelle to the right by Gustave Moreau, titled Le Roi David, as a mysterious, stoop-shouldered, sad old man who has changed through time and the abrading effect of experience. Moreau represents the old David standing, the pillars of the palace behind him and strange birds flying around his head.