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Pierre FRANCQUEVILLE - Cambrai, 1548 - Paris, 1615
David vainqueur de Goliath
© Musée du Louvre/P. Philibert |
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Richelieu
Ground Floor
Francqueville
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The lion killed by David |
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David is represented as a young man wearing the laurel crown that symbolizes victory, after killing Goliath. He is leaning on the sword of the giant whose severed head lies at his feet; he holds the sling in his left hand and a stone in his right. The shepherd’s crook and lion skin evoke his exploits with the wild animals that tried to devour his flock when he was a humble shepherd. David, the shepherd boy and future king of Jerusalem, killed the lions that attacked his flock. One day, he met the giant Goliath who challenged him to a duel. David agreed to fight, though his only weapons were his crook and sling. He threw a stone that struck Goliath on the forehead. The giant collapsed; David took his sword, and cut off his head. Look upward from the giant’s head to that of the lion, then to that of the future king of Jerusalem. There are many similarities between Goliath’s head and that of the animal: both have half-closed eyes and an open mouth, and the giant’s beard looks rather like the lion’s mane.
This sculpture is another example of Mannerism: the diagonals and spirals are accentuated, and David's pose is unbalanced and very unnatural. Artists liked to portray naked heroes, as this allowed them to celebrate the strength and beauty of the human body.
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Go straight ahead. On your left is the Monument for the heart of Duke Henri of Longueville.
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