Commentary on the Apocalypse and commentary on the Book of Daniel
Purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) in 1910
Nebuchadnezzar: Siege of Jerusalem (Daniel 1:1) -- City of Jerusalem, attacked by army on facing page (fol. 149v), defended by helmeted men armed with spears and stones; two banners; gates of city, with knockers, closed; Jeremiah nimbed, holding right hand to face and book in left hand, seated on stone outside of walls.
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. (Dan. 1:1)
This miniature actually illustrates an earlier siege in which Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem and, on the plain of Jericho, the escaping King Sedecias of Judah. At the bottom left sits the enthroned Nebuchadnezzar, flanked by guards in thirteenth-century armor; he directs the blinding of Sedecias and the killing of his sons (4 Kings 25:1–7). On the opposite page, Jeremiah, seated outside the city, laments the fall of Jerusalem and defeat of the Israelites.