The story depicted is that of David, son of Jesse, and Jonathan, son of Saul, the first king of the Israelites as told in the Old Testament (I Samuel 15-20). David was the handsome shepherd boy who was anointed by the prophet Samuel to become the future king of the Israelites, as King Saul had fallen out of God’s grace. David is summoned to play harp for king Saul, who is low as the good spirit of God has departed from him. While at the court, David slays the philistine giant Goliath with his sling shot and becomes a successful soldier and the people’s favourite. He meets Saul’s son Jonathan and the two men form a very strong bond. The increasingly jealous Saul hurls a spear at David which causes him to flee from the court. By a rock in the country, Jonathan signals to David by shooting his arrows, warning him that it is not safe to return, and the two men depart for good: ‘David arose from a place toward the south, fell on his face to the ground, and bowed down three times. And they kissed one another; and they wept together, but David more so. Then Jonathan said to David, "Go in peace, since we have both sworn in the name of the Lord, saying, 'May the Lord be between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants, forever.' (1 Samuel 20:41-42)

The scene of departure between David and Jonathan is depicted on several Dutch 18th-century glasses. The two are seen embracing or sometimes kissing, with accompanying inscriptions ‘AMICITIA’ or ‘VRINDSCHAP’ [friendship]. On one glass, in the Rijksmuseum, the description is ‘VRIENDSCHAP EN LIEFDE’ [friendship and love].
In the Bible story, David is repeatedly described as very handsome and the love between the men as profound and wonderful.
In eighteenth-century Netherlands it was customary to make special toasts using glasses with engraved scenes and mottos appropriate to the occasion. Historic evidence strongly suggests that depictions of Jonathan and David on drinking glasses would have been used to convey a secret message alluding to homosexual love. An extensive court case which started in Utrecht in 1730 produced a list of 144 men, from all ranks in society, who were alleged to have engaged in sodomy, which carried the death penalty, and many were executed between 1730 and 1732 This case heralds a period of homophobia in the Netherlands and it is unthinkable that one could have openly promoted homosexual love through explicit imagery and public toasts at the time.
On the glass on offer to us, one of the two men has placed his foot on top of one of the other’s. Specific evidence about the meaning of this gesture comes from a court case in 1689. Four men were tried because, posing as homosexuals, they blackmailed and molested men who sought homosexual love. In the court proceedings it was stated that ‘according to one of them it was practiced there (near the toilets in the town hall) that men who sought sexual contact tread on each other’s feet.
With this knowledge a hidden message can be read in the biblical scene depicted on this glass. The biblical precedent of the love between David and Jonathan must also have provided a moral justification for homosexuality for its users. Evidence for this, in an extreme form, comes from the historic case of Pastor van Ooltgensplaat. In 1748 he attempted to seduce a boy by persuading him that ‘there were people who thought sodomy was not a sin because David, in his litany after Jonathan’s death (II Samuel 1:26) had said that ‘Your love to me was wonderful, surpassing the love of women.’‘.