Description
This page from Walters manuscript W.106 depicts two scenes from the story of Hannah. Top: Hannah, the barren wife of Elkanah, went to the temple, where the Ark of the Covenant was, and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. She vowed that if God gave her a son, then she would give him to God. Eli the priest saw her praying and thought that she was drunk.
Bottom: In due time, Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called him Samuel. Samuel was to crown David, King of Israel.
Provenance
Léon Gruel, Paris [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, June 6, 1903, by purchase [see The Diaries of George Lucas]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Inscriptions
[Translation] the inscription above the TOP image has been partially cut off, but the remainder reads: ...Eli said that she was drunk. Hannah said, 'No, I drank neither wine nor beer but I asked God for a child.' 'God will give him,' said Eli; [Transliteration] ...heli dit q[u'e]le asteit yure. n[on] dit anna je ne beu nukes vin ne serveise meis ieo req[ue]r a deu enfaunt deu leu[s] dunist dit heli.
[Translation] the inscription BELOW the image reads: Hannah gave birth to a son and he was named Samuel; [Transliteration] anna enfaunta un fiz e fu nume samuel.
Credit
Acquired by Henry Walters, 1903
