David with the Bear and the Lion, Amidst a Flock of Sheep

Although David Vinckboons made only three prints himself, his designs were the basis for more prints than any other Netherlandish artist in the early seventeen century. Pieter Serwouters was responsible for translating more than two dozen of these designs into print. The composition is based on a story from the Hebrew Bible, 1 Samuel 17:34-37. In order to convince King Saul to allow him to confront the gigantic Philistine warrior Goliath, David recounts his experience as a shepherd protecting the King’s sheep. He tells Saul he has slayed both a lion and a bear who attacked the flock and would do the same to Goliath. In the print, David has seized the bear’s head, and is pulling his mouth open and on the ground to the right is a dead or wounded lion.


The print might have been intended as a pair to Samson and the Lion. They were published in the same year and are about the same size. In both the young men are fighting fierce animals with just their hands and their actions are a prelude to an eventual contest with the Philistine enemy, which their elders are trying to prevent.