David with the head of Goliath (Leyster)
 | |
| Artist | Judith Leyster |
|---|---|
| Year | 1633 |
| Medium | Oil on panel |
| Dimensions | 21 cm × 15 cm (8.3 in × 5.9 in) |
| Location | private collection |
David with the head of Goliath is a small oil painting by Judith Leyster in a private collection.[1] It is the only known biblical painting by Leyster.
Provenance
The painting was attributed to Leyster by the researcher Juliane Harms in 1927 on the basis of its signature and was last documented in The Hague in 1940.[1] The painting is signed on the table and shows Leyster's distinctive "J", "L" and star.
According to Hofrichter, The scene of David with the head of Goliath is rarely found in Dutch painting, but Haarlem had several Catholic families in the 17th-century and even Frans Hals made some religious works.[1] The allegory of David and Goliath was occasionally used by young artists for their "masterpiece" on entrance into a painter's guild. The figure of David is often a self-portrait, which of course could not apply in this case. 17th-century woman artists often painted themselves in a similar gruesome scene as Judith beheading Holofernes. Perhaps Judith was tired of being asked to create such a work and this is the reason that she chose David. Hofrichter made the comment that the painting is not only Leyster's sole biblical subject, but is also her only nude, showing her lack of anatomical training in the weak representation of the male figure.[1] It appears to be a correct representation of its model however, as this painting appears to be a mirror image of a much larger painting currently attributed to Aubin Vouet in the collection of the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux. Another version came up for auction in 2012. Though not an exact copy of Caravaggio's David with the Head of Goliath, the scene is clearly inspired by it.
-
Aubin Vouet
-
Print by Michel Lasne after Vouet
-
Print by Jan van de Velde of Mercurius and Argus
-
"Follower of Annibale Caracci"