The Feathered Man: The Reception of Daniel 4 in a 17th-Century English Tapestry of Nebuchadnezzar Transformed into a Beast

Abstract

The imagery of Nebuchadnezzar’s divine affliction in Daniel 4 is as complex as it is fantastic. A variety of literary images interweave to present the king’s affliction in explicitly animalising terms. Despite this complexity, most visual depictions of the text focus on a largely similar image – that of Nebuchadnezzar eating grass or living naked in the wild. However, in a 17th-century English tapestry series associated with Thomas Poyntz, an altogether different scene is envisioned. Nebuchadnezzar is portrayed as fully clothed in the city of Babylon and, even more intriguingly, is explicitly depicted with both birds’ claws and feathers. This paper outlines trends in visually depicting Nebuchadnezzar’s affliction in art and then examines the tapestry’s visual portrayal of Daniel 4. In so doing, it is observed how the tapestry is distinctive in representing both the divine pronouncement and seeming enactment of this affliction in one image, as well as discerning the influence of lycanthropic interpretations of Daniel 4. Finally, this paper returns to read the biblical narrative in light of this unusual visual representation and observes how it draws the reader’s attention to two often overlooked textual features: the absence of other characters within this specific scene, and the rapidity with which Nebuchadnezzar’s affliction commences.