The Museo del Prado is displaying its Caravaggio
Imagen del proceso de restauración de David vencedor de Goliat de Caravaggio / Image of the restoration process of the David with the Head of Goliath by Caravaggio
David with the Head of Goliath, an example of Caravaggio’s outstanding originality, has undergone a process of restoration to remove layers of oxidised and opaque varnish from the surface with the aim of recovering the work’s chromatic range and contrasts.
This procedure, undertaken by Almudena Sánchez, a restorer at the Museo del Prado, has reinstated the work’s original values and revealed elements in the composition previously concealed by the opaqueness of the varnish, such as the light surrounding the young David’s head and the foreshortened body of Goliath.
The painting is now on display as part of the new installation of Rooms 7 and 7A, for which David García Cueto, Head of the Department of Italian and French Painting up to 1800, has devised a panoramic vision of the phenomenon of Caravaggism...
Imagen de David vencedor de Goliat de Caravaggio en la sala 7A del edificio Villanueva del Museo Nacional del Prado. Foto © Museo Nacional del Prado. / Image of the David with the Head of Goliath Caravaggio in room 7A at the Museo Nacional del Prado. Photo © Museo Nacional del Prado
David vencedor de Goliat (antes de la restauración) Caravaggio Óleo sobre lienzo, 110,4 x 91,3 cm Hacia 1600 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado / David with the Head of Goliath (before restoration) Caravaggio Oil on canvas, 110,4 x 91,3 cm Ca. 1600 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado
David vencedor de Goliat (después de la restauración) Caravaggio Óleo sobre lienzo, 110,4 x 91,3 cm Hacia 1600 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado / David with the Head of Goliath (after restoration) Caravaggio Oil on canvas, 110,4 x 91,3 cm Ca. 1600 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado
Radiografía de la cabeza de Goliat del David vencedor de Goliat de Caravaggio. / X-ray of Goliath’s head of the David with the Head of Goliath by Caravaggio
Reflectografía con el detalle de la cabeza de Goliat del David vencedor de Goliat de Caravaggio. / Reflectography of Goliath’s head of the David with the Head of Goliath by Caravaggio
