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David with the Head of Goliath

ca. 1615–16
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
The shepherd boy David thrusts down the severed head of the Philistine giant Goliath after having slayed him with his slingshot. The conflicted expression on David’s face, the almost tender depiction of Goliath’s bleeding head, and the contrasting reactions of the two other men make this picture deeply disturbing—a kind of meditation on death. An arresting masterpiece, the work encapsulates the ideas behind Valentin’s art: confrontation; the implication of the viewer; a dramatic presentation, with the figures provocatively close to the picture plane; and richly layered psychological suggestions.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: David with the Head of Goliath
  • Artist: Valentin de Boulogne (French, Coulommiers-en-Brie 1591–1632 Rome)
  • Date: ca. 1615–16
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 39 × 52 3/4 in. (99 × 134 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings