David de leeuw wurgend

About this artwork

Titelpagina voor: Urbanus VIII. Maphaei S.R.E Cardinalis Barberini Nunc Urbani P.P. VIII Poemata. Rome: s.n., 1631. De voorbereidende tekening door Bernini bevindt zich in de collectie van het Musée du Louvre te Parijs, inv.nr. 12093.

Art Historical Context

Behold *David de Leeuw Wurgend* (David Strangling the), a striking 1631 engraving by French master Claude Mellan, measuring 212 × 150 mm. This dynamic image served as the title page forPoemata* by Maffeo Barberinilater Pope Urban VIII—published in Rome. It captures biblical hero David in a moment of heroic triumph, wrestling and subduing a ferocious lion, drawing from 1 Samuel where the future king recounts his youthful bravery as a shepherd. Mellan's engraving exemplifies the virtuoso technique of 17th-century printmaking, with intricate line work that conveys motion, texture, and drama in a...

About the Artist

Claude Mellan · 1598–1688

Claude Mellan (1598-1688) was a French draughtsman, engraver, and painter who became one of the most innovative printmakers of the French Baroque period. Born in Abbeville to a family of coppersmiths, Mellan rose to become Peintre et Graveur Ordinaire du Roi (Painter and Engraver in Ordinary to the King), achieving recognition for his extraordinary technical mastery. Mellan's artistic significanc...