''David with the Head of Goliath'' is a painting by Italian artist

Massimo Stanzione Massimo Stanzione (also called Stanzioni; 1585 – 1656) was an Italian Baroque painter, mainly active in Naples, where he and his rival Jusepe de Ribera dominated the painting scene for several decades. He was primarily a painter of altarpiece ...

, created ''c.'' 1642-1643. It is exhibited at the

San Diego Museum of Art The San Diego Museum of Art is a fine arts museum located at 1450 El Prado in Balboa Park in San Diego, California that houses a broad collection with particular strength in Spanish art. The San Diego Museum of Art opened as The Fine Arts Galler ...

History

Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi (Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi) da Caravaggio, known as simply Caravaggio (, , ; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the final four years of hi ...

was an important influence in Stanzione’s artistic style and this painting illustrates a combination of styles from Caravaggio’s brutally realistic elements and dramatic lighting to classical 17th-century artistic trends including the lyrical style of Bologna artists. This painting shows David in an elegant posture, which softens the goriness, i.e. the dismembered head of

Goliath Goliath ( ) ''Goləyāṯ''; ar, جُليات ''Ǧulyāt'' (Christian term) or (Quranic term). is a character in the Book of Samuel, described as a Philistine giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''gigas'', cognate giga-) a ...

. The theatrical lighting of this painting is a perfect demonstration of the chiaroscuro interpretation by Stanzione.

Guido Reni Guido Reni (; 4 November 1575 – 18 August 1642) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, although his works showed a classical manner, similar to Simon Vouet, Nicolas Poussin, and Philippe de Champaigne. He painted primarily religious ...

and Caravaggio can be credited for Stanzione’s interpretation of

chiaroscuro Chiaroscuro ( , ; ), in art, is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts of light to achi ...

; they were supposedly his teachers. It was only after the painting was donated, that experts noticed under gallery lighting some aberrations in the canvas such as unevenness and crackle patterns. Those aberrations, along with the fact that young David appears to be gazing at something in the lower left corner led to suspicions that the canvas had been altered. By 1999, with the use of x-rays and careful removal of surface paint, the original paint of Goliath’s forehead was revealed. After intensive restoration, Goliath’s full face was uncovered and the painting restored to its original form. The full painting depicts Goliath’s dismembered head in the lower left corner, with David, knife in hand, gazing down to the lower left corner. It is believed that the head of Goliath was painted over in order to make the painting less gory and more appealing to potential buyers.

Provenance

In 1947, Mrs. Harry Turpin gifted a Stanzione original painting titled ''David With the Head of Goliath'' to the Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego (now the

); the work was then attributed to Ribera, but was reattributed to Stanzione by Mario Modestini in 1951, an attribution confirmed by Schleier, Felton, Zeri, and Spinosa.David with Head of Goliath, San Diego Museum of Art
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References

External links

* * * {{17C-painting-stub 1640s paintings Paintings by Massimo Stanzione Paintings depicting David Paintings about death Christian art about death Paintings in the collection of the San Diego Museum of Art Conservation and restoration of paintings