David

Luca Giordano (Naples, 1634 – 1705), a pupil of Giuseppe Ribbera, was at work in Italy and Spain. His works were considerably impacted not only by his teacher but also by works of Michelangelo, Pietro da Cortona and Caravaggio. Because of the speed and facility of his painting he was nicknamed Luca fa presto. Among his many works, his frescos for the Escorial, created after 1692, particularly stand out. The motif of David with the head of Goliath was a subject that Giordano resorted in several paintings. In this case, considering the typically Giordano emphatic chiaroscuro and the characteristically attractive face of the young David, the stylistic features, the painting has been attributed to this great painter of the Italian Baroque.