David with the Head of Goliath
Artist/Maker
DatesMade: Executed probably 1600-talet
Material / Technique
Dimensionsh x w: Mått 111 x 87 cm h x w x d: Ram 140 x 115 x 9 cm
Inventory numberNM 170
AcqusitionTransferred 1866 from Kongl. Museum (Martelli 1804)
Other titlesTitel (sv): David med Goliats huvud Titel (en): David with the Head of Goliath Tidigare: David with Goliath's Head
DescriptionRes. Katalogtext: Description in Italian Paintings: Three Centuries of Collecting, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2015, cat.no. 13: FORMER INV. NOS.: 148 (M. 1796–97); 215 (F. 1798); 277 (M. 1804); KM 539. TECHNICAL NOTES: The support is a single piece of coarse, plain-weave linen fabric. It has been lined with glue and mounted on a non-original stretcher. The lining process has reinforced the structure of the original canvas, which can be seen as a pattern of squares through the paint layers. Impastos have been flattened. There are numerous old retouches. The varnish is yellowed. Documented restorations: 1844: Restored by Mandelgren; 1929: Lined, flaking paint layer consolidated, repair of paint layer. Cleaning and varnish; 1951: Severe water damage to paint layer and canvas fixed. PROVENANCE: Martelli 1804. BIBLIOGRAPHY: NM Cat. 1867, p. 12 (as Gian Giacomo Caprotti, called il Salaì); Sander 1872–76, III, p. 118, no. 277; NM Cat. 1990, p. 421 (as anonymous, 17th century). This painting is a rather poor copy of Cagnacci’s famous representation of the subject in a Bolognese private collection.¹ It is painted on a coarse kind of canvas that was also used for several of the other paintings of lesser quality in the Martelli Collection. Interestingly, in Fredenheim’s catalogue the painting is referred to as a “Copie par Luc. Cagnacci”.² The original of the present painting was earlier attributed first to Girolamo Forabosco by G. Fiocco, and later to Lorenzo Pasinelli by, in succession, R. Longhi, C. Boroncini and C. Volpe.³ It was exhibited as by Pasinelli in 1959, as part of the display Maestri della pittura del Seicento emiliano in Bologna. Reviewing this exhibition, Dwight C. Miller proposed an attribution to Cagnacci, owing to “the clarity of the representation and the coldness of the background”.⁴ Pasini regarded the painting as typical of Cagnacci’s Venetian activity around 1655, and as one of the masterpieces of his maturity.⁵ Like the closely linked painting of David by Cagnacci in the Columbia Museum of Art, South Carolina (USA), formerly of the Colonna Collection and the Kress Collection, New York, the Bolognese painting found great popularity in the 18th century. Attesting to this popularity are the many extant copies, such as the ones in Milan and Trento and others that have surfaced on the Italian art market. Perhaps the Nationalmuseum painting should be considered a typical 18th-century copy and as such a natural part of the Martelli Collection, which overall reflects that century’s range of taste. Although of lesser quality than the previously known copies, had it been published sooner it could of course have helped to confirm the attribution of the original to Cagnacci at an earlier stage. DP 1 Pasini 1988, pp. 268–270, cat. no. 62; Benati and Paolucci 2008, pp. 308–309, cat. no. 79. 2 NM Archives, Kongl. Museum, F:1, Catalogue du Cabinet de Martelli (à Rome). 3 Pasini 1988, pp. 268–270, cat. no. 62. 4 Ibid. 5 Ibid. 6 Pasini 1988, pp. 263–268, cat. no. 61; Benati and Paolucci 2008, pp. 308–309, cat. no. 80. [END]
Motif categoryReligion/Mythology
Collection
TechniquePainting
Object category
Keyword