A drawing of King David, holding a lyre, seated on the quoin of an arch.

The drawing is one of a set of nine depicting emperors and ancient rulers by Farinati in the Royal Collection: others show the Emperors Julius Caesar, Vitellius and Vespasian, Alexander the Great (three drawings), Attila the Hun and King Shapur (RCINs 904995–905002). Elsewhere there are studies of the Emperor Antoninus Pius in the Ashmolean, Oxford (Parker, 1956, cat no.222); of Mithridates, King of Pontus, in the National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh (inv. no.: D 1598); of the Emperor Nero in Christ Church, Oxford (Byam Shaw, 1976, cat. no. 787) and the Emperor Vitellius, in the National Gallery of Art, Washington (inv. no.: 1975.71.3). Shown standing in niches or on plinths, or seated on architectural elements, the drawings were most probably intended as painted decorative cycles for libraries, rooms which were traditionally furnished with portraits of significant rulers.

The Royal Collection holds forty-seven sheets by Farinati and his followers. It is probable that most, if not all, were acquired during the reign of Charles II. A list of albums at Kensington Palace in 1727 includes one volume of drawings by Farinati and his followers, in which this sheet was housed.The album contained RCINs 904973 – 905026, with other sheets by Farinati housed in a miscellaneous album. These volumes were subsequently broken up and the drawings were mounted separately.