David and Goliath (Caravaggio)
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David and Goliath | |
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Italian: David e Golia | |
Artist | Caravaggio |
Year | c. 1600 |
Medium | Oil on canvas |
Dimensions | 110 cm × 91 cm (43 in × 36 in) |
Location | Museo del Prado, Madrid |
David and Goliath, also known as David with the Head of Goliath or David Victorious over Goliath, is an oil painting by the Italian Baroque master Caravaggio. It was painted around 1600, and is held in the Museo del Prado, Madrid.[1]
Two later versions of the same theme by Caravaggio, both titled David with the Head of Goliath, are currently to be seen in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, and the Galleria Borghese, Rome.
History
The David and Goliath in the Prado was painted in the early part of the artist's career, while he was a member of the household of Cardinal
Caravaggio originally showed Goliath's face fixed in wild-eyed open-mouthed terror, tongue rolling, eyeballs swivelled to the edges of the sockets[citation needed]. In the finished painting the melodrama is banished: the drama is transferred from Goliath to the quietly efficient David, his face almost hidden, intent on his work with his hands in his enemy's hair, kneeling almost casually on the man's torso.
This painting and two others done at about the same time – the first version of Sacrifice of Isaac and the first John the Baptist – were taken to Spain shortly after they were made, where they were frequently copied and made a deep impression on art in that country.[citation needed]
See also
References
- ^ "David with the Head of Goliath". Museo del Prado. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
Sources
- Langdon, Helen (1998). Caravaggio: A Life. ISBN 0-374-11894-9.
- ISBN 0-312-27474-2.
External links
- Media related to David and Goliath by Caravaggio (Madrid) at Wikimedia Commons