Mephibosheth

There are not many books about disabilities and special needs in art. I looked through lists of historic disabled figures until I found Mephibosheth, and I was captivated by his story. Finding that he was not a well-known man, I decided it would be right to create an art piece of him.
There are not many paintings of Mephibosheth, especially ones between the accident and King David. I wanted to capture the hardship of disabilities, so I decided to capture Mephibosheth in between the two events depicting his hardship of not knowing where his life is going. I captured the subject in a modern environment to make his story more relevant today.
I can relate to Mephibosheth as I have also been through dark times with my disabilities. But when we get through the darkness, there will always be light.
The child probably pondered if he was meant for this world. The world may have never accepted someone like him, but the king would accept him later, showing a Christlike love for him. He was hidden away for his own safety. The child was a frail boy, he could not play and run like other boys, which must have been hard for him. His pet dog points to his poor crippled feet, which are visible under the desk. Screwed-up pieces of paper show that something is playing on his mind. A drawing of a happy family can be seen on the desk, in front of him. Being an orphan is also a great burden to bear at such a young age. He lost his parents and family at the age of five and probably had very few memories of them. These memories he probably treasured throughout his life. The black-and-white photographs on the wall show his family: his grandfather, King Saul, and his father, Johnathan, with his mother. A candle is lit for them on a table to pay tribute to his deceased family members. His nurse stands next to the tribute, the one who accidentally dropped him at the age of five. She most likely had to take on the role of a mother to him.
Mephibosheth is surrounded by books on his desk and on the bookcase, this is to show that he was a very knowledgeable and wise person; he was even more knowledgeable of scripture than King David. The books are in Hebrew to show his Jewish beliefs.
You feel sorry for him, but you can also admire him. He did not give in, he kept going through life, even when times were dark. I find him an inspirational figure and I hope to capture more paintings of him in the future.

After I completed this painting, I had a strange dream throughout the night that I was sitting at the desk with Mephibosheth in my painting setting. I cannot remember much of the dream except the environment and the subject trying to talk with me. I awoke repeating the name “Mephibosheth”.

This scene was painted for my project in my Fine Art course at university. The story of Mephibosheth can be found in 2 Samuel 4:4 and 2 Samuel 9.