The Triumph of David

For a long time nobody could agree what this long panel had been made for. Some scholars saw the front of a Florentine marriage chest, a cassone. Others saw a spalliera, a painting set into the wall panelling of a bedroom at shoulder height. When it and its companion were cleaned in 2023, small plugs of wood turned up, filling holes that seem to have been cut for keys, which points strongly to the chests. A wedding suits the subject. David rides home to Jerusalem standing on a cart with the head of Goliath, surrounded by nobles on prancing horses, hounds and even a cheetah. At the far end, outside the city walls, a young man in Florentine dress meets a young woman and her companions. They may be the couple the panels were made for, or David meeting Michal, the king's daughter he would marry.