# David with the Head of Goliath [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [BERNINI, Gian Lorenzo]() - Date: 1601-1650 - Technique: Oil on canvas, 75 x 65,5 cm ## Commentary The painting has been identified as a youthful self-portrait of Bernini, dating to 1625 and connected to the painted self portrait now in the Borghese Gallery. The iconographic choice of self-portrayal in the guise of David is interesting: self-identification with the biblical hero is both a recurring motif in Bernini's art and a theme in the poetry and image-making of his great patron, Pope Urban VIII. The painting technique is dashing and fast, with strongly visible brushstrokes and luminous touches. The treatment of physiognomy seems idealized when compared to a drawing with analogous iconography, at Windsor. <P> <TABLE ALIGN=LEFT CELLPADDING=5 BORDER=1 WIDTH=320 BGCOLOR="\#99CCCC"> <TR VALIGN=MIDDLE><TD><IMG SRC="/support/gif/listen.gif" BORDER=0 VALIGN=MIDDLE> Suggested listening \(streaming mp3, 11 minutes\):<BR><A HREF="\#" onClick="w=window.open \('/music1/17\_cent/kuhnau\_goliath.html', 'newWin', 'scrollbars=yes,status=no,dependent=yes,screenX=0,screenY=0,width=350,height=350'\);w.opener=this;w.focus\(\);return true"><B>Johann Kuhnau: The Fight between David and Goliath \(No. 1 of the 6 Stories from the Bible illustrated in music\)</B></A> </TD></TR></TABLE> ## Related artworks - [A portrait of a Man]() - [A seated male nude]() - [Aeneas, Anchises, and Ascanius \(detail\)]() - [Aeneas, Anchises, and Ascanius]() - [Aeneas, Anchises, and Ascanius]() - [Altar Cross]() - [Angel]() - [Angel with the Column]() - [Angel with the Crown of Thorns]() - [Angel with the Superscription]() - [Angels on Ponte Sant'Angelo]() - [Apollo and Daphne \(detail\)]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()