Physical description
Painting depicting David sitting on the decapitated head of Goliath and resting his right arm on his sword. In the left background is a military encampment. The head of David in harsh, elongated hatches of sanguine and brown, blended with a little blue-green shadow, on a pale carnation ground; head of Goliath densely modelled with hatches of brown , grey and white over a greenish-brown carnation ground; hair and fur washed and hatched in transparent browns with opaque heightening; the costume, landscape and sky washed and hatched in gouache; on vellum put down on a leaf from a table- book.
Frame: Ebonised wood, provided for the miniature after it entered the Museum; an older oak backboard has survived, inscribed in graphite: David with the Head of Goliath/ a fine Drawing by T.Flatman/ from/ a Painting by Domechino [ sic] / at Hampton Court Pallace.
Place of Origin
England, Great Britain (painted)
Date
1667 (painted)
Artist/maker
Thomas Flatman, born 1635 - died 1688 (artist)
Domenico Fetti, born 1588 - died 1623 (after, artist)
Materials and Techniques
Watercolour on vellum put down on a leaf from a table- book
Dimensions
Height: 185 mm, Width: 136 mm
Object history note
Provenance: Purchased from Colnaghi's, 1937; earlier provenance unknown.
Descriptive line
Miniature painting of David with the head of Goliath, watercolour on vellum, by Thomas Flatman after Domenico Fetti, 1667.
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Murdoch, John. Seventeenth-century English Miniatures in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. London: The Stationery Office, 1997.
Cat.127, p.221. Full Citation:
“ 127 David with the Head of Goliath, after Domenico Fetti
1667
P83-1937
Rectangular 185 x 136 mm
The head of David in harsh, elongated hatches of sanguine and brown, blended with a little blue-green shadow, on a pale carnation ground; head of Goliath densely modelled with hatches of brown , grey and white over a greenish-brown carnation ground; hair and fur washed and hatched in transparent browns with opaque heightening; the costume, landscape and sky washed and hatched in gouache; on vellum put down on a leaf from a table- book.
Condition: The lower left corner slightly dog-eared; some small losses and marginal abrasions otherwise good.
Signed: In white, lower left: TF. 1667.
Frame: Ebonised wood, provided for the miniature after it entered the Museum; an older oak backboard has survived, inscribed in graphite: David with the Head of Goliath/ a fine Drawing by T.Flatman/ from/ a Painting by Domechino [ sic] / at Hampton Court Pallace.
Provenance: Purchased from Colnaghi's, 1937; earlier provenance unknown.
Literature: V&A, Review of the Principal Acquisitions, 1937, p. 33; Reynolds 1952, p. 75 ('magnificent miniature copy'); M Levey, The Later Italian Pictures in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen (1964), p. 177, no. 469; Summary Catalogue, 1981, p. 22; Reynolds 1988, p. 70.
The original picture by Domenico Fetti (c.1588-1623) was acquired by Charles I, almost certainly with the collection of Cardinal Ferdinando Gonzaga, later Duke of Mantua. Although not listed as by Fetti in the 1627 Gonzaga inventory, it was always known to be by him. The confusion with Domechino in the inscription is merely clerical. In 1652 the painting was sold from the Royal Collection, but was recovered at the Restoration and hung in the Long Matted Gallery at Whitehall. It was presumably there that Flatman made his copy. Subsequently, as Michael Levey points out, the painting was enlarged to serve as an over-door at Hampton Court, where it was recorded in the List of Her Majesties Pictures in Kensington Hampton Court and Windsor Castle compiled during the reign of Queen Anne.”
Materials
Watercolour; Vellum
Techniques
Painting
Subjects depicted
Soldiers; Sword; David (King); Goliath; Tent; Camp
Categories
Religion; Christianity; Paintings
Collection code
PDP
