This miniature introduces Psalm XXXI, a prayer of repentance and pardon: "I have acknowledged my sin to thee, and my injustice I have not concealed. I said I will confess against myself my injustice to the Lord: and thou hast forgiven the wickedness of my sin. "
Jean Colombe chose to illustrate the event of the prophet Nathan rebuking David for having slain Uriah the Hittite in order to take his wife, Bathsheba (II Samuel XII). Because David repented, the Lord spared his life but punished him with the death of the son Bathsheba had borne him.
David, overwhelmed with contrition, sits on a high-backed chair, while Nathan stands before him and reproaches him in the name of the Lord.

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