(Rome 1593–1654 Naples)
David with the head of Goliath,
oil on canvas, 203.5 x 152 cm, framed

Provenance:
probably in Artemisia Gentileschi’s studio, Naples, 1631;
probably the collection of Marchese Vincenzo Giustiniani, Rome, 1638;
probably the collection of Principe Andrea Giustiniani, Rome, 1667;
probably the collection of Bendetto Giustiniani, Rome, 1793;
probably sale, Finarte, Milan, 11 June 2002, lot 447 (as Attributed to Cesare Fracanzano, with measurements 205 x 150 cm);
Private collection, Naples, 2013;
Private collection, Milan, 2013;
Private European collection

Documentation:
probably the painting described by Joachim von Sandrart during his visit to Artemisia Gentileschi’s studio in Naples in 1631: ‘No less praise deserves the virtuous Artemisia Gentilesca, who, when I brought greetings from her father, the eminently famous Horatio Gentilesco, my peculiar and dear friend, showed me her superb paintings, including a very delicate David, life-size, holding the appalling head of the monstrous Goliath in his hands, which in addition to many other works by her hand was very reasonably made’ (see J. von Sandrart, Teutsche Academie der Bau-, Bild- und Mahlerey-Kunste, Nuremberg 1675–1679, ed. by A. L. Peltzer, Munich 1925, p. 290);
probably the painting in the post–mortem inventory of Marchese Vincenzo Giustiniani, 1638, ASR, Giustiniani, b. 16, f. 845v and f. 846r: ‘Un quadro con una figura intiegra di David che tiene la testa del gigante Golia dipinto in tela alta palmi 9. larga 6.½ incirca (di mano d’Artemisia Gentileschi) senza cornice.’ (see S. Danesi Squarzina, La Collezione Giustiniani, Milan 2003, vol. I. p. 289, n. 68);
probably the painting in the post–mortem inventory of Principe Andrea Giustiniani, 1667, ASR, Giustiniani, b. 16, f. 639v: ‘n. 68. Un quadro con una figura intiera di David, che tiene la Testa del Gigante Golia dipinto in tela alto palmi 9. largo 6 ½ in circa di mano d’Artemisia Gentileschi con cornice.’ (see op. cit. Danesi Squarzina, 2003, vol. II, p. 57, n. 162);
probably the painting in the post–mortem inventory of Benedetto Giustiniani, 1793, ASR, Giustiniani, b. 133, f. ?: ‘173. Altro soprapporto di palmi 7.10. per alto rappresentante Davidde, Scuola di Michel’Angelo Caravaggio di buona mano, con Cornice come sopra.’ (see op. cit. Danesi Squarzina, 2003, vol. II, p. 301, n. 173)

Probable Literature:
L. Salerno, The Picture Gallery of Vincenzo Giustiniani II: The Inventory: Part I, in: The Burlington Magazine, 1960, vol. 102, n. 684, p. 96, n. 68;
R. Ward Bissel, Artemisia Gentileschi: a new documented Chronology, in: The Art Bulletin, 1968, vol. 50, n. 1, p. 165 (lost work by Artemisia Gentileschi);
C. Klemm, Joachim von Sandrart: Kunstwerke und Lebenslauf, Berlin 1986, p. 61;
M. D. Garrard, Artemisia Gentileschi: The image of the Female Hero in Italian Baroque, Princeton 1989, pp. 65-66, p. 109, p. 503 footnote 108 (lost work by Artemisia Gentileschi);
R. Ward Bissell, Artemisia Gentileschi and the authority of art: critical reading and catalogue raisonné, University Park 1999, p. 362 cat. no. L-22 and p. 362 cat. no. L-23 (lost work by Artemisia Gentileschi);
R. Contini, Ritagli giustinianei, in: Caravaggio e i Giustiniani. Toccar con mano una collezione del Seicento, S. Danesi Squarzina (ed.), exhibition catalogue, Milan 2001, pp. 65-66 (lost work by Artemisia Gentileschi);
Y. Primarosa, Appendice II. Artemisia Gentileschi nelle collezioni europee (1612-1723), in: Artemisia Gentileschi, storia di una passione, R. Contini/F. Solinas (eds.), exhibition catalogue, Milan 2011, p. 273;
D. Lutz, Artemisia Gentileschi: Leben und Werk, Stuttgart 2011, p. 108, p. 117 (lost work by Artemisia Gentileschi)

Literature:
F. Solinas, in: Artemisia: la musa Clio e gli anni napoletani, exhibition catalogue, Pisa 2013, pp. 46-49 cat. no. 4 (as Artemisia Gentileschi);
N. Spinosa, Grazia e tenerezza ‘in posa’. Bernardo Cavallino e il suo tempo: 1616-1656, Rome 2013, p. 47 footnote 49, illustrated p. 62 fig. 47 (as Artemisia Gentileschi);
J. M. Locker, Artemisia Gentileschi: the language of painting, London 2015, p. 167, not illustrated (as Artemisia Gentileschi);
N. Spinosa, Artemisia e Napoli, in: Artemisia Gentileschi e il suo tempo, exhibition catalogue, Rome 2016, p. 55, not illustrated;
R. Lattuada, Unknown Paintings by Artemisia in Naples, and New Points Regarding her Daily Life and Bottega, in: Artemisia Gentileschi in a Changing Light, London/Turnhout 2017, p. 193, illustrated pp. 194-195 figg. 14-15 (as Artemisia Gentileschi)

Exhibited:
Pisa, Palazzo Blu, Artemisia: la musa Clio e gli anni napoletani, 23 March – 30 June 2013, pp. 46–49, cat. no. 4 (as Artemisia Gentileschi)

Artemisia’s David is a dark-haired youth who looks straight out at the viewer, displaying the severed head of the violent Philistine giant. He is seated at the foot of a column, possibly in an ecclesiastical setting, in an allusion to the justification for his killing. David seemingly converses with the spectator while with his right hand he holds up the immense head of Goliath, which has been struck on the brow by the stone thrown from the sling which lies beneath it. The shepherd-boy is silhouetted almost statuesquely by a masterful and dramatic play of light and shade. The dark setting communicates a dramatic atmosphere. The depiction of the giant’s head and the bejewelled hilt of the sword display technical prowess emphasised in a full palette of greys and browns.

A previous composition, which may have inspired Artemisia, is the David by Domenico Fetti in the Gemäldegalerie in Dresden (see fig. 2). Artemisia appears to have adopted from this work the basics of the pose, the mountainous landscape, the placement of Goliath’s head, and David’s mode of dress. Artemisia could have been familiar with either Fetti’s original composition, dated 1614-1615 or one of its several copies (see E. Safarik, Fetti, Milan 1990, p. 44-47, cat. no. 7).

The present painting had some affinity with both the international caravaggism, such as the David by Nicolas Régnier (1588 – circa 1667) preserved in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Dijon (see fig. 1), and the baroque painters as Giovanni Lanfranco’s David, in the Fondazione Roberto Longhi, Florence (see fig. 3).

Violence is an examined theme in Artemisia’s works in which bloody images, often extrapolated from brutal episodes of ancient and sacred history, recur like a fil rouge. The present example sits alongside pictures such as the famous Judith and Holoferns in Naples’ Museo di Capodimonte (inv. no. Q378), the Judith and Abra at the Galleria degli Uffizii (inv. no. 1912 n. 398), the Medea in a private collection and the Jael and Sisera in Budapest (inv. no. 75.11). Although the rape committed by Agostino Tassi in 1611 is important for understand the depictions of her images of violence, it is equally considerable that these kinds of subjects were particularly loved by the painter’s clients of the time.

Provenance:
The present painting is most likely the one seen and described by Joachim von Sandrart (1606–1688) in Artemisia’s studio in Naples in 1631: ‘No less praise deserves the virtuous Artemisia Gentilesca, who, when I brought greetings from her father, the eminently famous Horatio Gentilesco, my peculiar and dear friend, showed me her superb paintings, including a very delicate David, life-size, holding the appalling head of the monstrous Goliath in his hands, which in addition to many other works by her hand was very reasonably made’ (see documentation).

A painting of the same subject, measurements and composition is described later in the inventory of Marchese Vincenzo Giustiniani (1564–1637) in February-March 1638.

Sandrart was the curator of the Giustinani collection from 1632, when he settled in the family´s Roman palace (see S. Ebert-Schifferer, Naturalezza e ‘maniera antica’. Joachim von Sandrart disegnatore dall’Antico, in: Caravaggio e I Giustiniani. Toccar con mano una collezione del Seicento, S. Danesi Squarzina (ed.), exhibition catalogue, Milan 2001, p. 57).

It is probable that Sandrart went to Naples to acquire paintings for the collection of the Roman nobles: in fact, already Klemm in 1986 (see literature) suggested that the picture seen by Sandrart in Artemisia’s studio was the same one documented in the collection of Marchese Vincenzo Giustiniani. In support of this hypothesis is the description of the painting in the Marchese’s inventory, where is described: ‘Un quadro con una figura intiegra di David che tiene la testa del gigante Golia dipinto in tela alta palmi 9. larga 6.½ incirca [di mano d’Artemisia Gentileschi’. (A painting with a full-lenght figure of David who holds the head of the giant Goliath, painting of canvas, height 9 palmi wide 6½ circa (by the hand of Artemisia Gentileschi).

There is at least one other known painting of David with the head of Goliath by Artemisia (see G. Papi, Un David e Golia di Artemisia Gentileschi, in: Nuovi Studi. Rivista di Arte Antica e Moderna, 1996, I, pp. 157-160) However, it differs from the present composition, as the giant’s head is significantly positioned on the ground at the feet of David and is not held by David, as it is in the present compostion. Moreover, there was a painting documented in the collection of Charles I (see R. Ward Bissel, Artemisia Gentileschi and the authority of art: critical reading and catalogue raisonné, University Park 1999, pp. 361-362, cat. no. L-21) and another one is mentioned in inventory of Don Ferdinando d’Afflitto, Prince of Scanno, Naples, dated 29 April 1700 (see op. cit. Lattuada, 2017, p. 193).

The painting in the collection of Marchese Vincenzo Giustiniani, was subsequently recorded in the inventories of Principe Andrea Giustiniani in 1667 and Benedetto Giustiniani in 1793. Vincenzo Giustiniani (1759-1826) sold a large part of the collection from 1804 onwards and it can be assumed that the present painting left the Giustiniani collection during this period.