(Florence 1607–1675)
David and Goliath,
oil on canvas, 98 x 79 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private collection, Rome

We are grateful to Sandro Bellesi for suggesting the attribution on the basis of a high resolution digital photograph and for his help in cataloguing the present painting.

This work represents the half-length figure of the young David with the head of the giant Goliath in his arms and a sword distinguished by its hilt wrapped cords; the whole is set against a dark background.

Vincenzo Dandini, one of the most original and interesting painters of the Florentine seicento, was born in Florence in 1609. The young Vincenzo Dandini studied with Passignano, and Matteo Rosselli and Andrea Commodi. He was in Rome until 1636 where he was able to study under Pietro da Cortona, and where he won a prize at the Accademia di San Luca. On returning to his native city of Florence he opened a flourishing independent studio: this is demonstrated by the coveted commissions he received from the Medici, as well as the city’s leading noble families, as well as some of the most high-profile religious communities in Tuscany. Vincenzo’s pictorial style is distinctive for its richly elegant eclecticism which demonstrate a confluence of his interests in Roman baroque classical painting from the ambit of Pietro da Cortona, combined with the Emilian innovations of Guido Reni and his followers (see S. Bellesi, Vincenzo Dandini e la pittura a Firenze alla metà del Seicento, Ospedaletto/Pisa 2003 and S. Bellesi, Catalogo dei pittori fiorentini del ‘600 e ‘700. Biografie e opere, 3 vols., Florence 2009, I, pp. 127-129 and II, figs. 451-470).

The present painting belongs to the final phase of Dandini’s career and can be compared, for the description of the hero’s features, to various youths represented by the artist in the 1660s and 1670s. The figure seen in this work is especially comparable to the executioner in the altarpiece representing the Martyrdom of Saint Margaret in the church of Santa Margherita a Montici, Florence, or the youths represented in the Adoration of the Magi in the cathedral of Colle Val d’Elsa (see op. cit. Bellesi, 2003, pp. 120, 131, nos. 39 and 47).

David is among the most emblematic and richly charismatic figures of the Old Testament; at an early age he entered the service of Saul. Taking part in the battle between Israelites and Philistines, he proposed himself as the champion of his people in answer to the challenge raised by Goliath, the great Philistine over six cubits tall. After his victory over Goliath, David was able to re-establish peace and prosperity to the land of Israel. The triumph of David over Goliath was metaphorically interpreted as a prefiguration of the temptation of Christ in the desert by Satan, and more broadly of the victory of Good over Evil.