ID: 700008124 Page link: http://vocab.getty.edu/page/cona/700008124	Record Type: Movable Work
Images: 1

David with the Head of Goliath (oil painting (visual work); Guido Cagnacci (Italian, 1601 - 1663) (Italian Artist); about 1645 - 1650; J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center (Los Angeles, Los A...; 2008.43)

Note: The shepherd boy David is one of the Bible's most prominent and enduringly popular heroes. He later became king of Israel, united the country, and captured Jerusalem. David was also considered the author of many of the Psalms and a direct ancestor of Christ. The episode this painting is based on appears in 1 Samuel 17:49-54, 18:6-7. In the battle of the Israelites and the Philistines, David volunteered for a one-on-one fight against the Philistines' leader Goliath, a giant more than eight feet tall. David felled the seemingly invincible adversary by slinging a stone that struck the giant on the forehead. The shepherd boy then used Goliath's own sword to cut off his head. David with the Head of Goliath depicts David after the victory, when he brought the severed head of the Philistine to Jerusalem. He was received by the Israelite women, who sang his praises and favorably compared him to King Saul. This aroused the king's jealousy, leading to tragic consequences.At first glance, David's sumptuous attire appears to be at odds with the likely appearance of a shepherd boy who has just returned from a bloody battle. But instead of the scene immediately after David's victory, Cagnacci selected the moment of the hero's triumphant reception following his entry into Jerusalem, for which baroque decorum would certainly have prescribed a change of clothes. Their timely availability is explained in the Biblical text immediately before David's return to the city: "And Jonathan stripped himself of the coat with which he was clothed, and gave it to David, and the rest of his garments" (1 Samuel 18:4).There were two notable Venetian precedents for depicting David as a fashionable young nobleman: Domenico Fetti's David with the Head of Goliath (c. 1617-19, Venice, Accademia), a work in the Contarini collection in Venice until 1838, and Bernardo Strozzi's canvas of the same subject (c. 1636, Cincinnati Art Museum). The mode of outfitting the protagonists of events in Biblical and ancient history in luxurious contemporary costumes is something Cagnacci would also have admired in the history paintings of Paolo Veronese, whose work he studied with great attention.

Titles:

David with the Head of Goliath (preferred,C,U,RP,English-P,,)

David avec la tête de Goliath (C,U,English,,)

Catalog Level: item

Work Types:

oil painting (visual work) [300033799] (preferred)

..... (Objects Facet, Visual and Verbal Communication (hierarchy name), Visual Works (hierarchy name), visual works (works), <visual works by material or technique>, paintings (visual works), <paintings by material or technique>)

Classifications:

paintings (preferred)

Creation Date: about 1645 - 1650

Creator Display:

Guido Cagnacci (Italian, 1601 - 1663) (Italian Artist) [preferred,JPGM]

Cagnacci, Guido (Italian painter, 1601-1663) [500017753]

Locations:

Current: J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center (Los Angeles, Los Angeles county, California, United States) [500329598] J. Paul Getty Museum, J. Paul Getty Trust, Corporate Bodies (Corp. Body)

Repository Numbers: 2008.43

Other: Creation: Italia [1000080] Europe (continent), World (facet) (Geographic)

Display Materials: Oil on canvas

	oil paint (paint) [300015050]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by function>, coating (material), <coating by form>, paint (coating), <paint by composition or origin>)

	canvas (textile material) [300014078]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by form>, <materials by physical form>, <fiber and fiber by product>, <fiber by product>, textile materials, <textile materials by process or technique>)

Dimensions: Unframed: 108.3 x 86.4 cm (42 5/8 x 34 in.); Framed [outer dim]: 133.4 x 113 x 4.4 cm (52 1/2 x 44 1/2 x 1 3/4 in.)

Cultures:

Italian (preferred)

General Subject:

portraits (preferred)

history and legend

Specific Subjects:

	portrait [300015637]
	.....(Objects Facet, Visual and Verbal Communication (hierarchy name), Visual Works (hierarchy name), visual works (works), <visual works by subject type>) (AAT)

	David, King of Israel [901001014]
	.....((Old Testament characters, Old Testament iconography, Legend, Religion, Mythology)) (ICON)

	Goliath [901000579]
	.....((Old Testament characters, Old Testament iconography, Legend, Religion, Mythology)) (ICON)

List/Hierarchical Position:

..... Movable Works

.......... Movable Works by class: drawings, paintings, prints, other two-dimensional media

Sources and Contributors:
David with the Head of Goliath	........ [JPGM,VP]
	........ J. Paul Getty Museum database for collections (2000-)
David avec la tête de Goliath	........ [JPGM,VP]
	........ J. Paul Getty Museum database for collections (2000-)

Subject: ....... [JPGM,VP]

Note:
English	..... [JPGM]
	..... J. Paul Getty Museum database for collections (2000-)