David with the Head of Goliath

Clemente Ruta (1685-1767)
18th century, Oil on canvas

Ruta, a native of Parma, was active from the second decade of the 18th century. He has depicted the biblical hero here in full compliance with the iconography of the time, according to stylistic criteria fully in keeping with the Rococo fashion, although he has adjusted the image with an almost carefree lightness. David holds the severed head of the giant on the sword that was used to decapitate him and the sling with which he struck the fatal blow. The hero, however, leans softly against the stone seat, and offers himself to the viewer with a tentative movement that almost contradicts the violence of his gesture. The artist initially trained in Parma with Ilario Spolverini and then studied in Bologna in the studio of Carlo Cignani, then in Rome, where he approached the sophisticated painting of the followers of Maratti; in 1712 he opened a workshop in the place of his birth, and focused his attention on the glories of Parma, Correggio and Parmigianino. Between 1741 and 1759, he was in the service of Charles of Bourbon in Naples, a city that further expanded his cultural horizons. He is known to have completed numerous fine altarpieces; this canvas, and its pendant, demonstrate the painter's taste for a bright palette, with vibrant hues, which owes much to the influence of artists from the Veneto such as Sebastiano Ricci.