David with the head of Goliath!

             There have been several artists that have reconstructed the event David with the head of Goliath. In this oil painting by Girolamo Forabosco there is a young boy holding a bloody head over his shoulder. He has a slight smirk upon his face as though he is proud to be holding the head. The view also should take notice the young boy is draped with a red cloth and wearing what appears to be white pants. The contrast of the red and white is very appealing to the eye. The color white is frequently associated with innocence’s and purity. Which I feel the artist uses this to depict a sense of sympathy and to highlight the boy’s age. The boy’s age is emphasized because children and youth are too associated with innocence. The color red relates to death and blood shed. Thus reiterating the image of the decapitated head the boy is lugging over his shoulder.

            If you look up this history of this painting you will find the image exhibits a story from the bible. It is suppose to represent the victory of the shepherd boy David over the giant Goliath. In the bible it is an example of the power of God overcoming a greater evil. While although the painting does not show the actual battle. It vividly illustrated the words “and David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem” (1 Samuel 17,54) In addition David is also know as the founder of civilization. We can also relate David to the hero Hercules.

            I was initially attracted to this specific piece because it had a sense of dark but goodness wrapped into one piece. I felt this way because the of the colors red and white. Also the young boys smirk played a great role in making feel like he was innocent even though the evidence was right above his shoulder. The head however did not look human, so I assumed he has a specific reason for killing the beast. Which is when I realized there had to be more than what was being shown in the painting. I found this when I did more research. This painting relates to my values because God always does over come evil. When you feel you cannot keep going God gives you the strength to keep moving forward.

            Forabaosco creates credibility because the curves of the boy’s body imitates the same style and stoke of Forabaosco’s first teacher. Also the soft blurs the outlines and atmospherically blends together. He is known for his self-portraits. My overall experience was a peaceful one. I mostly go to museums in New York City, they never let you take a photo or even get close enough to the piece to look at stroke the artist has. I walked right in a got to look at each piece in my own timely matter. I got as close as I wanted. I loved the fact they let your wonder how you pleased. I would definitely go back!