Scripture · Judith 13:8
1 Samuel 17:57
David with the Head of Goliath
So when David returned from killing the Philistine, still holding his head in his hand, Abner took him and brought him before Saul.
David holds Goliath’s head out into the light, while his other hand keeps the sword low against a dark background.
About the artwork
The Borghese David offers no crowded triumph. A young figure, a lowered blade, and a severed head occupy a narrow field of light. The space between David’s face and the head encourages a slower reading of the victor and the defeated, rather than showing the action of the fight itself.
Two seventeenth-century writers identified Goliath’s face as Caravaggio’s self-portrait. A later interpretation treats the picture as an appeal for pardon after the painter’s killing of Ranuccio Tomassoni; that remains a scholarly reading, not a surviving statement by Caravaggio. The Borghese dates the work either to 1606–07 or to 1609–10. The uncertainty matters when connecting the painting to the painter’s final years.
Featured in: Caravaggio’s Bible Paintings: The Painter Who Killed a Man and Kept Painting Grace
What does 1 Samuel 17:57 mean?
In 1 Samuel 17:57, Abner brings David before Saul after the battle, with Goliath’s head still in David’s hand. Saul’s question concerns the young man’s family, and David names Jesse of Bethlehem as his father. The verse thus moves from the public battle to David’s recognition at the royal court.
Caravaggio omits Saul and Abner, concentrating on the object David brings with him. The paired passage identifies the narrative moment but does not supply the painting’s subdued emotional atmosphere. Readings of pity, remorse, or self-examination arise from the picture and its history; they should not be presented as feelings assigned to David by this verse.
The head in David’s hand recalls his appearance before Saul in 1 Samuel 17:57, while the painting leaves the court outside the frame.
Sources
Caravaggio’s Bible Paintings: The Painter Who Killed a Man and Kept Painting Grace. Artwork reading adapted from this guide.
1 Samuel 17 — Berean Standard Bible. Context for 1 Samuel 17:57.
Also from 1 Samuel:David and SaulDavid and Goliath
Continue looking:David with the Head of GoliathJonathan’s Token to DavidThe Meeting of David and Abigail