Le mura armate. Due ipotesi sulla ‘Torre di Davide’ della Gerusalemme crociata in una miniatura della Bibliothèque Royale di Bruxelles

Among the several miniatures concerning medieval Jerusalem, the image painted in ms. 9823-9824 of the Royal Library of Bruxelles, f. 157r (12th century) shows an often neglected detail of the crusader Citadel, wrongly connected with King David: three small circles immediately beneath the roof of the building are visible. In the past, they were seen as butts of reused ancient columns, according with a well-known castle-building technique, useful against earthquakes and sapping during sieges; but it can be also supposed that the circles are a symbol of another use, i.e. showing shields as items for military celebration, power display and exhibition of war-booty. The most authoritative model for this reading of the miniature is the hapax in Song of Songs 4:4, where shields on a "David's Tower" are mentioned.