Caravaggio (1599-1600). David Victorious over Goliath [oil on canvas]. The Prado Museum, Madrid, Spain/The Bridgeman Art Library.

Caravaggio offers hardly more than a hint of the violence that has occurred. The head of Goliath is positioned in an impossible position in relation to his prone body, and the color of his skin is beginning to turn sickly. There is evidence of the damage David inflicted on him in the center of his forehead. | 

A moment in time is captured, which of course is described in the title. This master work is more than an allegory rendered beyond photo-realism, as will be described. Contrast through value does the heavy lifting in this work. The artist’s remarkable adjustment of value captures interest, defines shapes, and saturates the canvas in drama. Color purity and subtle texture provide context for Caravaggio’s use of value to excel the way it does in this work.

Focused light from directly overhead hints at an impact on content as well as fleshing out highlights and shadows. A distant-second space-defining measure is color temperature. Overall the mood is dark, for layering reasons. Action has cooled, and the adrenaline rush is abating. Elements are stable, resulting in a work of static asymmetry. The narrative, expression based on tone, figurative shapes and muddied colors dominate. The roughly equal areas of value extremes are in pleasing conflict.

The position of David’s body, the lines of force created by his limbs and the direction of his gaze lead to the decapitated head of Goliath. The subtle shapes that are created in the hero’s flesh and clothing support this sense of motion. The observer is close at hand; the picture frame is somewhat compressed but not nearly to the degree so as to distract from the carefully blended elements and strategies that define this work. 

The beauty and strength of this painting are not something I can quantify. Several attributes of it struggle within the mind: pure admiration for its imitation of optical reality, the masterful execution of tenebrism (extreme value contrast) and the sensitive yet direct expression of allegory. I believe Caravaggio's master works reflect a sort of "hyper-reality", one that is more rich and detailed that would what actually exist, similar to the Renaissance Dutch but with a more intense, much less playful mood.