Description

Alessandro Turchi was an Italian painter of the early Baroque period, active mainly in Verona, highly acclaimed in his time. He painted several pictures of David having killed Goliath. His painting “David with the Head of Goliath” depicts a beautiful David, with a humble expression while holding the heavy head of Goliath.

This work, after the Turchi, is a steel-plate engraving by the master engraver Albert Henry Payne, who was himself an accomplished painter and illustrator. Born in London, Payne moved to Leipzig in 1845 where he founded his publishing house, Englische Kunstanstalt [English Art Institute].

Noted in the lower left is “L’Orbetto pinx”, meaning that it is from the painting by L’Orbetto. “L’Orbetto” was Turchi’s nickname, reportedly because he led his blind father around when he was a little boy.

This work dates to circa 1850.