The Bible In Paintings: DAVID'S BIG FAT HEAD

[Hebrews 11:6]

The Bible In Paintings 2
ENCOURAGEMENT FOR APPRECIATING AND APPLYING GOD'S MESSAGE

1st SAMUEL
CHAPTER 17

As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.

So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.

David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the scabbard. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword.

When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines. Their dead were strewn along the road. When the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp.

David took the Philistine’s head and brought it to Jerusalem, and he put the Philistine’s weapons in his own tent.

1
ANTONIO DEL CASTILLO Y SAAVEDRA
"David with the Head of Goliath"

2
GUSTAVE DORÉ
"David Hoists the Severed Head of Goliath"

3
ORAZIO GENTILESCHI
"David Contemplating the Head of Goliath"

4
PIERRE PUGET
"David Gazing at Goliath's Head"

5
ANTONIN MERCIÉ
"David with the Head of Goliath"

6
VERROCCHIO
"David"

7
FORD MADOX BROWN
"David and Goliath"

8
CARAVAGGIO
"David with the Head of Goliath"

9
ANDREA VACCARO
"David with the Head of Goliath"

11
VALENTIN DE BOULOGNE
"David with the Head of Goliath and Two Soldiers"

12
GUIDO RENI
"David with the Head of Goliath"

13
ANTONIO DE BELLIS
"David and Goliath"

14
GIOVANNI LANFRANCO
"David Dragging Goliath's Head"

15
LUCA DELLA ROBBIA
"David and Goliath"

16
JACOB VAN OOST
"David with the Head of Goliath"

17
CARLO DOLCI
"David with the Head of Goliath"

18
NICOLAS RÉGNIER
"David with the head of Goliath"

19
CARAVAGGIO
"David and Goliath"

20
JACOPO LIGOZZI
"The Triumph of David"

21
ANDREA MANTEGNA
"David with the Head of Goliath"

22
ALESSANDRO TURCHI
"David with the Head of Goliath"

23
ALESSANDRO TURCHI
"David with the Head of Goliath"

24
VALENTIN DE BOULOGNE
"David with the Head of Goliath"

25
CLAUDE VIGNON
"David with the Head of Goliath"

26
TANZIO DA VARALLO
"David with the Head of Goliath"

27
DOMENICO FETTI
"David with Head of Goliath"

28
GIUSEPPE VERMIGLIO
"David Holding Goliath's Head"

29
FRANCESCO SIMONINI
"David with the Head of Goliath"

As Saul watched David going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner, commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is that young man?”

Abner replied, “As surely as you live, O king, I don’t know.”

The king said, “Find out whose son this young man is.”

As soon as David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with David still holding the Philistine’s head.

“Whose son are you, young man?” Saul asked him.

David said, “I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem.”

Whatever Saul sent him to do, David did it so successfully that Saul gave him a high rank in the army.

This pleased all the people, and Saul’s officers as well.

When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with tambourines and lutes. As they danced, they sang:

“Saul has slain his thousands,
and David his tens of thousands.”

Saul was very angry; this refrain galled him. “They have credited David with tens of thousands,” he thought, “but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?” And from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David.

30
GERRIT DE WET
"Saul Welcoming David after his Victory over Goliath"

31
NICOLAS POUSSIN
"Le Triomphe de David"

32
NICOLAS POUSSIN
"The Triumph of David"

33
MAERTEN DE VOS
"Triomphe de David"

34
Source

35
ANDREA VACCARO
"The Triumph of David"

36
FRANS FRANCKEN II
"The Triumph of David"

37
MARCANTONIO FRANCESCHINI
"The Triumph of David"

38
HENDRICK VAN BALEN
"Triumph of King David after Killing the Philistine Giant Goliath"

39
JOSEPH TISSOT
"David Takes the Head of Goliath to Jerusalem"

40
BARTOLOMEO MANFREDI
"Triumph of David"

41
ANDREA VICENTINO
"David and Goliath"

→ a n d... f i n a l l y ←

42
ARTEMISIA GENTILESCHI
"David and Goliath"

New International Version ©1984, Abrdgd, EMPHASES Added
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[Hebrews 11:6]

R E S O U R C E S
Read 1st SAMUEL 17 in full
Hear MAX McLEAN reading it
Hear a DRAMATIZATION of it
Read J-F-B's COMMENTARY
BIBLE TIMELINE

Click for 104 prior episodes in THIS series:
The Bible In Paintings 2
Click for 434 links in the FIRST series:
The Bible In Paintings 1


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[Hebrews 11:6]

G O L I A T H
DAVID AND GOLIATH
DAVID OR GOLIATH
DAVID'S BIG, FAT HEAD
SAUL, OR DAVID?
SAUL ATTACKS DAVID
DAVID RUNS FOR HIS LIFE
DAVID SPARES SAUL’S LIFE – TWICE!

[Red Badger]

Saul was very insecure.
He was the perfect example of a Bad Example.................

[Hebrews 11:6]

Pretty much.................

[InkStone]

Good morning Dan, and Happy Monday to all;
Delightful each of them Dan- Inspiring! Thank you.
Love the bronze; have never seen it before.

[Hebrews 11:6]

It’s not every day an artist can portray someone carrying an enormous noggin....Might as well use bronze.

[marktwain]

Most of the artists portray David as a boy, often a smallish boy.

That seems very unlikely. He had already killed a bear and a lion while guarding his sheep. He probably was quite muscular and exceptionally skilled with a sling.

[Hebrews 11:6]

I certainly agree. At least mid-teens.

[left that other site]

Good Morning, Dan! :-)

[etabeta]

Too many great artists! I like the Orazio Gentileschi at #3. He painted his David during a trip to Rome where he was much influenced by Caravaggio.
Magnificent stained glass window by Luca Della Robbia at #15 and the two bronze figures by the French Antonin Mercié and by the great Italian sculptor Verrocchio. It was thought that the model for Verrocchio’s David had been the young Leonardo da Vinci who was then training at the master’s workshop.

[marktwain]

Some of the depictions make him appear positively feminine.

[Hebrews 11:6]

Mary-Lou!

In the passage of time
I forgot how to rhyme.
So no poem today,
I'm sad to say

But please don't be sad
'Cause my poems were bad
And roses still are red, &
Violets blue--enough said

[Hebrews 11:6]

Hard to fathom, isn’t it?!

[Hebrews 11:6]

I am partial to Orazio's also, dear Alba.

It is always a joy when you're able to fill us in on the backgrounds of these works and their artists. You add so much to our enjoyment! And I am far from alone in saying so.

[etabeta]

First and foremost is the the Bible story but always a delight for me to add some additional information on the artists. Thank you, Dan, for your kind words.

[Bob434]

The moral of the story is to
“Quit before you are a head”

I noticed a lot of the depicted heads looked similar In Features.

[Hebrews 11:6]

Goliath never repeated that error.

[InkStone]

You’re right! Did Goliath feel somehow disconnected?

[Hebrews 11:6]

Decapitated.

[Big Red Badger]

David went for the Throat!
.
Fascinating that these things Actually happened.
.
Have you done
Jonah and the Whale?
Asking for a FRiend.