Guercino, 'King David', 1651

King David was a biblical warrior king, who ruled ancient Israel and Judah. Famous for defeating the giant Goliath, he was also a musician and poet, and he is credited with writing many of the Psalms in the Old Testament. The painting is an unusual representation of David, both within Guercino’s oeuvre and more generally. David is not young but not yet old. Vestiges of youth are suggested in his powerfully muscular calves, his pensive yet largely unlined face, and his glossy beard, unmarred with grey. He is presented as a warrior king, poised between his youthful career as a fighter, suggested by footwear that is reminiscent of armour, and his later life as a ruler, poet and philosopher, indicated by his staff, crown and inscribed tablet.

David sits in a rare moment of introspection, looking towards a tablet inscribed with a line from Psalm 86 (87 in the King James and Hebrew Bibles): ‘Glorious things of thee are spoken, O City of God’ (GLORIOSA / DICTA SVNT / DE TE CIVITAS / DEI). David had conquered Jerusalem, but God had not permitted him to build a temple there because of his bloody deeds as a warrior. Here, David contemplates Jerusalem’s glorious future which he will not witness during his lifetime. It is a moving image of a man at a turning point in his life, reckoning with his history and his limits. The luminous colouring and complex psychology exemplify Guercino’s assurance as a painter at the height of his maturity.

The painting was commissioned in 1651 by Giuseppe Locatelli of Cesena, together with a painting of one of the ancient Sibyls. The pairing of King David with a Sibyl had its precedent in medieval hymns; both were considered prophets of the coming of Christ. Locatelli was only twenty-four years old at the time and had recently come into his inheritance following the death of his father in 1649. These paintings were intended as decorations for the remodelled family home.

The painting of King David was completed first. As its original pendant, the Cumaean Sibyl with a Putto (National Gallery), was nearing completion, Prince Mattias de’ Medici paid a visit to Guercino’s studio in Bologna, where he took a fancy to this painting and appropriated it for his own art collection in Florence. Guercino diplomatically omitted to tell Locatelli that he had let the Cumaean Sibyl go to another patron, and painted the Samian Sibyl with a Putto (also National Gallery) as a replacement. King David was sent to Cesena first, arriving in spring 1651, and the Samian Sibyl followed in the autumn of that year. King David and the Samian Sibyl have hung together for centuries, first in Cesena, then, from 1768, in the collection of the Spencer family. They are still displayed in their exceptionally fine matching frames, designed by James ‘Athenian’ Stuart (1713-88) in the mid-18th century, when the paintings were displayed together at Spencer House in London.