Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio “David with the Head of Goliath”., circa 1610, Oil on Canvas, 125 x 101 cm, Borghese Gallery and Museum, Rome
David with the Head of Goliath is a painting by the Italian Baroque artist Caravaggio. It is housed in the Galleria Borghese, Rome. The painting, which was in the collection of Cardinal Scipione Borghese[a] in 1650] has been dated as early as 1605 and as late as 1609–1610, with more recent scholars tending towards the former.
The immediate inspiration for Caravaggio is a work by a follower of Giorgione, c.1510, but Caravaggio captures the drama more effectively by having the head dangling from David’s hand and dripping blood, rather than resting on a ledge. The sword in David’s hand carries an abbreviated inscription H-AS OS; this has been interpreted as an abbreviation of the Latin phrase Humilitas occidit superbiam (“humility kills pride”).