Name of Object:

David with the Head of Goliath

Location:

Rome, Latium, Italy

Holding Museum:

Borghese Gallery

 About Borghese Gallery, Rome

Original Owner:

Scipione Borghese (?)

Current Owner:

Italian State

Date of Object:

1609/10

Artist(s) / Craftsperson(s):

Michelangelo Merisi, “Caravaggio” (1571, Caravaggio (Bg)-1610, Port’Ercole (Gr))

Museum Inventory Number:

455

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Oil on canvas

Dimensions:

h: 125 cm; w: 101 cm

Provenance:

Collezione Scipione Borghese (dal 1613)

Type of object:

Painting

Place of production:

Naples (?)

Description:

The painting shows the key moment in the Old Testament story of David depicting the head of the giant Goliath, killed with a slingshot by the young shepherd. The canvas belonged to Cardinal Scipione Borghese from at least 1613, in which year, following payment, it was framed. The work dates from the artist's second stay in Naples (1609–1610), when Caravaggio, fleeing Rome having been convicted of killing a man, nevertheless continued to maintain a relationship with Cardinal Scipione. The latter's influence on his uncle Pope Paul V, after the painting was sent by the painter as proof of penance, convinced the Pope to grant a pardon. During his return journey, Caravaggio was delayed on the Tuscan coast near Port'Ercole, and died of unknown causes in July 1610, never reaching Rome. The oldest sources already recognise the artist's self-portrait in Goliath's face, but opinion differs regarding the young hero. Some see a self-portrait of the artist as a young man. As usual, the composition, executed using dark colours, demonstrates a lively and acute drama simply through the expressiveness of the faces. On David's unsheathed sword we can see some letters that have been interpreted to represent the virtuous motto “HumilitAS Occidit Superbiam”.

Caravaggio innovatively painted himself as Goliath and sent the painting to Pope Paul V seeking pardon for the murder he had committed. The canvas may in fact be a double self-portrait, as David could be a portrait of the painter as a young man. The use of artificial light by Caravaggio has a moral function, probably expressing divine grace. It was at this time that Caravaggio’s artistic influence began to spread around the world.

How Object was obtained:

The Borghese Collection was acquired by the Italian State in 1902.

Selected bibliography:

Della Pergola, P., Galleria Borghese. I Dipinti, II, Rome, 1959, n.114, pp. 79–80.
Coliva, A., in Caravaggio l'ultimo tempo 1606–1610, exhibition catalogue (Naples), Verona, 2004, pp. 137–139, cat.14.

Additional Copyright Information:

Copyright image: Archivio fotografico Soprintendenza Speciale PSAE e Polo Museale della Città di Roma.

Citation of this web page:

Sofia Barchiesi "David with the Head of Goliath" in "Discover Baroque Art", Museum With No Frontiers, 2026.
https://baroqueart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;BAR;it;Mus11;11;en

Prepared by: Sofia BarchiesiSofia Barchiesi

SURNAME: Barchiesi
NAME: Sofia

TITLE: Author and Researcher

CV:
Sofia Barchiesi, a graduate and specialist in Art History and recipient of a scholarship from the School of Mediaeval and Modern Art History at Lumsa University, has been working with the Superintendency for Historical Artistic Heritage and the Museums of Rome since the late 1980s. She was responsible for cataloguing the art of the region and museums of Rome, studying the period of the Counter-Reformation particularly closely. She works with journals and writes essays, alternating her research and teaching work.
Translation by: Laurence Nunny
Translation copyedited by: Mandi GomezMandi Gomez

Amanda Gomez is a freelance copy-editor and proofreader working in London. She studied Art History and Literature at Essex University (1986–89) and received her MA (Area Studies Africa: Art, Literature, African Thought) from SOAS in 1990. She worked as an editorial assistant for the independent publisher Bellew Publishing (1991–94) and studied at Bookhouse and the London College of Printing on day release. She was publications officer at the Museum of London until 2000 and then took a role at Art Books International, where she worked on projects for independent publishers and arts institutions that included MWNF’s English-language editions of the books series Islamic Art in the Mediterranean. She was part of the editorial team for further MWNF iterations: Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean Virtual Museum and the illustrated volume Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean.

True to its ethos of connecting people through the arts, MWNF has provided Amanda with valuable opportunities for discovery and learning, increased her editorial experience, and connected her with publishers and institutions all over the world. More recently, the projects she has worked on include MWNF’s Sharing History Virtual Museum and Exhibition series, Vitra Design Museum’s Victor Papanek and Objects of Desire, and Haus der Kulturen der Welt’s online publication 2 or 3 Tigers and its volume Race, Nation, Class.

MWNF Working Number: IT1 14