Image scanned/or photographed from transparency and color corrected by Pat Cagney.

Saul and David with the Head of Goliath

ArtistAttributed to Pietro della Vecchia (Italian, 1603-1678)

CultureItalian

Date17th century

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsOverall: 46 1/2 x 40 1/4 in. (118.1 x 102.2 cm)
Overall, Frame: 60 x 53 in. (152.4 x 134.6 cm)

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number71.2219

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 204

DescriptionThis is an oil on canvas painting depicting two figures, David and Saul, with Goliath's decapitated head. Saul, wearing armor, is diagonally across the center in the shadows. David's head is visible in the upper right shadows and Goliath's head is in the lower left. Everything is in the foreground, pushing the scene as close to the viewer as possible. There is no background, except for the gray shadows.

Label TextAttributed to Pietro della Vecchia Italian, 1603–1678 Saul and David with the Head of Goliath Oil on canvas Viewers in the mid-1600s would have known this story well. After the young hero David has killed the giant Goliath, King Saul carries away his head. Artists used such well-known stories as opportunities to demonstrate their talents. Here, Pietro della Vecchia offers a study of opposites: foppish youth versus stoic age, the expressionless dead versus the animated living, and areas of light versus brooding shadows. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.2219 Exhibition History"Pittura del Seicento a Venezia," Venice, 27 Giugno - 25 Ottobre, 1959 "A Loan Exhibiton of Venetian Baroque Paintings," Finch College Museum of Art, New York, NY; 1964. "Italian Renaissance and Baroque Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr," Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences, Norfolk, VA (Notes by Robert L. Manning), 1968.