David Bernini

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In this Baroque masterpiece, Gian Lorenzo Bernini depicts the biblical hero in the instant preceding the launch of the stone from his sling to kill the Goliath, called by the Philistines to fight against the Israelite army of King Saul. On the ground is his dropped armour, donated by the sovereign, and a harp (the usual attribute of the hero) here ending in an eagle's head, an evident testimony to the commission and celebrative intent of the Borghese family. The back of the sculpture is unfinished, since it was originally intended to be placed leaning against a wall of the Sala del Vaso.