David with the Head of Goliath
1600-1601
Caravaggio painted this gruesome masterpiece around 1610 while on the run for murder, and it's basically a desperate plea for a pardon. The young David holds the severed head of Goliath, but look closely at Goliath's face—it's actually a self-portrait of the artist himself! He reportedly sent this painting to the Pope as a symbolic offering of his own head, hoping for forgiveness. It’s a dark, dramatic twist on a biblical story, painted with the intense lighting that made Caravaggio the original bad boy of the Baroque era.
- Technique
- Oil on canvas
- Material
- Canvas
- Dimensions
- 125 cm × 101 cm
Location: Galleria Borghese, Rome
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