1520
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
David Slaying Goliath is a 1520 ink by Ugo da Carpi, a Renaissance work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This chaotic scene shows a crowd of muscular, twisting figures in a wild battle. At the center, a small, shirtless boy stands over a giant’s fallen body, holding a rock. The background is a stormy sky with swirling clouds and jagged trees. Everyone’s faces are tense, some reaching for weapons, others fleeing. The boy’s size compared to the giant hints at a famous story—David vs. Goliath. The print uses deep shadows and light to make the figures pop, a trick called *chiaroscuro*. Next, check out how woodcut prints work to see how this was made.
Ugo da Carpi (c. 1450–1480 – c. 1523–1532) was an Italian printmaker active between 1502 and 1532 in the cities of Venice, Rome and Bologna. He is known for his technical and stylistic contributions to the chiaroscuro…
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