David 1620

Curator: Standing before us, we have Guido Reni's "David," an oil painting dating back to about 1620. It’s currently held at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. What’s your immediate sense of this piece? Editor: An immediate melancholy. It’s beautiful, but also…heavy. His gaze is directed just off the frame, full of world-weariness, like he already knows how the story ends, perhaps? Curator: That’s a poignant reading. I think the darkness of the Baroque style plays a huge role, as it heightens the emotional intensity. Reni was deeply influenced by the ideal of beauty. The smoothness and grace are a striking demonstration. Editor: Absolutely. You can really see it in the delicate rendering of his skin, and in the flow of light across the planes of his face, too. This isn’t just David the warrior, the triumphant slayer of Goliath; Reni gives us David the thoughtful young man, burdened perhaps by prophecy or just the gravity of his actions. I imagine the clouds, darkness, could also represent divine burdens. Curator: Very interesting! Considering David’s story is usually depicted with symbols of victory or strength, the iconographical reading of "divine burdens" provides a wonderful contrast here, it truly offers a deep view of an inner emotional life. Editor: Right! Even without Goliath’s head as a trophy, we know the story and what he represents as the coming Messiah. Curator: Well, Reni gives us a complex, sensitive portrait of this significant Biblical figure. What began as melancholy, became insightful reflection, even if that emotion doesn’t equate to sadness, exactly. More like, acknowledgement? Editor: Perhaps more like, humanity. Here’s David, in the midst of fulfilling an immortal calling and also a young man just trying to make sense of it all.