Follower of Lucas Van Leyden; late 17th - early 18th century.

Follower of LUCAS VAN LEYDEN ; Dutch School, end of the 17th century - beginning of the 18th century.
"David defeating Goliath".
Oil on copper.
It has slight damage to the frame.
Measurements: 27 x 18 cm; 48 x 40 cm (frame).
The composition and theme of this oil on copper takes us to the painting entitled "David defeating Goliath", which belongs to the collection of the Prado Museum in Madrid (Inv. No. P002098), attributed to Lucas Van Leyden and dated 1632. In both paintings we can see how David reaches a group of people holding a sword that is crowned with the head of Goliath. In this particular case our copper has smaller dimensions presenting the characters more closely united. In addition, the tonalities, enhanced by the surface of the copper, are based on an iridescent and brilliant chromatic range similar to the work "David with the head of Goliath" from the collection of the Prince of Liechtenstein. The usual representation of this biblical passage is the depiction of a solitary David carrying the head of Goliath. However, in this work the artist presents us with a moment after the solitude of the battle. The work is inspired by the biblical account of how Goliath came out of the Philistine camp and loudly challenged Israel to present a man to fight with him in hand-to-hand combat, the outcome of which would determine which army would become the servant of the other. No Israelite soldier was brave enough to accept such a challenge (Samuel 17:1-11, 16). However, a little shepherd boy named David, from the tribe of Judah, met his challenge. Goliath, preceded by his armor-bearer, advanced, invoking evil against David by his gods. To this, David replied, "You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you with the name of the LORD of hosts" (Sam.17:45). When David threw a stone at him with his sling, it sank into his forehead and Goliath fell to the ground. Then David stood over Goliath and cut off his head with the giant's sword (Sam.l 17:26, 41-53). Then David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, and put his weapons in his tent (Sam. 17:54).
Lucas van Leyden is considered one of the earliest representatives of Dutch genre painting, and one of the most brilliant printmakers in the history of art. According to Van Mander, he received his first lessons from his father, the painter Hugo Jacobsz, and continued his training with Cornelis Engebrechtzs. Quite a lot is known about Lucas van Leyden, and he is often mentioned in documents of his hometown from 1500 onwards. He married the daughter of a magistrate, was a member of two militias and enjoyed a good social position, ranking among the most prosperous citizens of Leiden. He met Dürer during his trip to Antwerp in 1521; at the meeting the two exchanged engravings, and the German master also painted his portrait. According to Van Mander, at the age of thirty-three he undertook a journey through the provinces of Zeeland, Flanders and Brabant, in the company of Jan Gossaert. He was a prolific artist, with most of his production consisting of prints of which about two hundred are preserved, most of them signed and dated. His first engravings show the imprint of Dürer's graphic work, while from 1525 onwards he was influenced by the Italian trends that reached him thanks to Gossaert and the prints of Marcantonio Raimondi. His pictorial corpus is not as extensive; at present about fifteen works are attributed to him, four of which were described by Van Mander: The Virgin and Child with St. Mary Magdalene and Donor, now in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich; The Last Judgment, preserved in Leiden, in the Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal; The Adoration of the Golden Calf, in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, and The Miracle of the Blind Man of Jericho, in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. Although he was an admired artist and his work was widely imitated, Lucas van Leyden had neither disciples nor assistants under him.