David with the Head of Goliath|Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri) |Search Collection

Updated 07 March 2025

On Display Special Exhibition Wing

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On Display

Special Exhibition Wing

Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri)

Cento, 1591 - Bologna, 1666

David with the Head of Goliath

Date	c. 1650
Materials and Techniques	oil on canvas
Size（cm）	120.5 x 102
Credit Line	Purchased
Standard ref.	Salerno 272
Category	Paintings
Collection Number	P.1998-0001

This painting, created in 1650 during the artist's late period, is a superb example of Guercino's work both in terms of its quality and its provenance. This painting is recorded in the 1650 entry in Guercino's studio account book as, roughly translated, "David holding head of Goliath made for Lodovico Fermi." Later, in 1680, the work appears in the Farnese family assets records as part of the collection of Ranuccio Farnese II, then Duke of Parma. Iconographically this composition is extremely rare. Unlike most views of David, boasting of his victory after vanquishing Goliath the giant, here David is shown in a very subdued state, in an introspective moment where he thanks God for his victory. The dark blue used in the background was a color characteristic of Guercino's works at this time, and it was a darkened version of lapis lazuli, a pigment traditionally closely linked to God and heaven. The use of this pigment evokes the internal conundrum of David caused by his spectacular victory. This painting was popular from the time of its creation and there are two extant copies of the work painted by Guercino's students. This is the best example of the Bolognese school during the Italian Baroque era in the NMWA collection. (Source: Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2009, cat. no. 21)

Provenance

Acquired from Guercino on 12 October 1650, by Lodovico Fermi of Piacenza; In the Collection of the Farnese Duke of Parma c. 1680, and subsequently inherited by the Bourbon Kings of the Two Sicilies (Naples); John Udney, Sale Christie's, 25 April 1800, lot 46; Sotheby & Co., 9 November 1927, lot 5; Private Collection, Copenhagen, until 1982; Purchased by the NMWA, 1999.

Exhibition History

1983: , Trafalgar Galleries at the Royal Academy III, London, 0 1983 - 0 1983, no. 6
1991: Guercino in Britain: paintings from British collections, The National Gallery, London, 28 June 1991 - 31 July 1991, no. 26 (entry by Michael Helston and Denis Mahon)
1991: Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, Il Guercino, 1591-1966, Museo Civico Archeologico, Bologna, 6 September 1991 - 10 November 1991, no. 128 (entry by Denis Mahon)
1991: Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, Il Guercino, 1591-1966, Schirn-Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, 3 December 1991 - 9 February 1992, no. 69
1993: , Trafalgar Galleries: XII, London, 23 November 1993 - 10 December 1993, no. 6
1995: I Farnese: arte e Collezionismo, Palazzo Ducale di Colorno, Parma, 4 March 1995 - 21 May 1995, Galleria nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples, 30 September – 17 December 1995; Haus der Kunst, Munich, 1 June – 27 August, 1995, no. 110 (entry by S. Loire)
2009: Tears of Eros, Casa de las Alhajas, Fundacion Caja Madrid, 20 October 2009 - 31 January 2010
2014: Voices Calling from the Unusual: Hirano Keiichiro's Selection of Western Art Masterpieces, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 8 April 2014 - 15 June 2014, cat. no. 22
2015: Guercino, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 3 March 2015 - 31 May 2015, cat. no. 42
2015: NO MUSEUM, NO LIFE?: Art-Museum Encyclopedia to Come: From the Collections of the National Museums of Art, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, 16 June 2015 - 13 September 2015, cat. no. L-1
2016: Caravaggio and His Time: Friends, Rivals and Enemies, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 1 March 2016 - 12 June 2016, cat. no. 39

Bibliography

1678: Malvasia, C. C. Felsina Pittrice, Vite de'Pittori Bolognesi. Bologna, 1678, p. 378.
1808: Calvi, J. A. Notizie della vita e delle opere del cavaliere Gio. Francesco Barbieri detto Il Guercino da Cento. Bologna, 1808, p. 125.
1841: Marvasia, C. C. Felsina Pittrice, Vite de'Pittori Bolognesi. Zanotti ed., vol. 2, Bologna, 1841, p. 331.
1870: Campori, G. Raccolta di cataloghi ed inventari inediti. Modena, 1870, p. 239.
1983: Trafalgar Galleries at the Royal Academy III (exh. cat.). R. Cohen, ed. Trafalgar galleries, London, 1983, pp. 16-19, no. 6
1987: Bertini, G. La Galleria del Duca di Parma. Storia di una Collezione. Bologna, 1987, p. 249, no. 303.
1988: Salerno, L. I dipinti del Guercino. Rome, 1988, no. 272.
1991: Guercino in Britain: Paintings from British Collections (exh. cat.). M. Helston; T. Henry, eds. The National Gallery, London, 28 June - 31 July 1991. London, 1991, pp. 56-57, no. 26.
1991: Giovannni Francesco Barbieri (exh. cat.). D. Mahon, ed. Bologna; Cento; Frankfurt am Main, Bologna, 1991, pp. 334-335, no. 128.
1991: Stone, D. M. Guercino. Il catalogo completo. Florence, 1991, no. 259.
1995: I Farnese: arte e collezionismo (exh. cat.). Loire Fornari Schianchi; N. Spinosa, eds. Palazzo Ducale di Colorno, Parma, 4 March-21 May 1995; Galleria Nazionale di Capodimonte, Napoli, 30 September-17 December 1995; Haus der Kunst, Munich, 1 June 1-27 Augst 1995. Milano, Electa, 1995, pp. 314-317, no. 110.
1997: Ghelfi, B.; Mahon, D. Il libro dei conti del Guercino 1629-1666. Bologna, 1997 , p. 149, no. 430.
2000: Annual Bulletin of the National Museum of Western Art. No. 33 (April 1998-March 1999), 2000, Koshikawa, Michiaki. New Acquisitions. pp. 9-11, List of New Acquisitions. p. 48, col. repr.
2006: Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2006 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 21, col. repr.
2007: Parma: grazia e affetti, natura e artificio. Protagonisti dell'arte da Correggio a Lanfranco (exh. cat.). Takanashi, Mitsumasa; Fornari Schianchi, Lucia, eds. The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 29 May-26 August 2007. Tokyo, The Yomiuri Shimbun, 2007, pp. 266-267, no. V-19, Italian ed., p. 98.
2009: Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. N. Sato; A. Shinfuji eds. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2009, p. 29, no. 21.
2013: Masterpieces: The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2013 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 36, col. repr.
2015: Guercino(exh. cat.). Watanabe, Sinsuke; Kawase, Yusuke; Tokyo Broadcasting System Television, eds. Tokyo, Tokyo Broadcasting System Television, 2015, cat. no. 42, col. repr.
2016: Caravaggio and His Time: Friends, Rivals and Enemies: 150th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between Japan and Italy (exh. cat.). Kawase, Yusuke et al., eds. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2016, pp. 178-179, 327, cat. no. 39, col. repr.
2017: The paintings of Guercino: a revised and expanded catalogue raisonné. Roma, Ugo Bozzi Editore, 2017, pp. 667-668, cat. no. 377.I. repr.

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