David Soothing Saul with the Harp

In 1852 the Florentine Academy of Fine Arts judged its triennial competition, and this is the canvas that won it. The story comes from the first Book of Samuel. King Saul is tormented by an evil spirit, and the young shepherd David is brought to court to play the harp until the fit passes.

By then Lega was working in the studio of Antonio Ciseri, a painter from Ticino who taught in Florence and became known for large, carefully staged religious scenes. The Italian state's catalogue entry for the painting sees Ciseri's lesson here, in the strong colour and in drawing that makes each figure's part in the story easy to read. The scene is set under a portico, and a spear is part of it too. Later in the same story Saul hurls a spear at David while he plays.

The Arno flood of November 1966 did very serious damage to the canvas.