Reading: 1 Samuel 17: (1a, 4-11, 19-23), 32-49
Commentary by Hovak Najarian
When the elders of Israel went to Samuel to demand that he appoint a king, it was argued they would need one to protect them from their enemies. Samuel was not convinced that Israel required a king but after arguments, Saul was anointed.
Among Israel’s enemies were the Philistines whose army had gathered at the Valley of Elah to confront Saul’s forces. During this stand-off a huge warrior named Goliath (reported to be nine feet, nine inches tall) came forward from the Philistine camp with taunts. He challenged the Israelites to send someone to fight him. The nation of the victor, he said, would rule over the other. King Saul was a tall man with experience in battle but he would have been no match for this Philistine giant.
Meanwhile, David, the youngest son of Jesse, was sent by his father to take food to his brothers who were serving in Saul’s army. When David saw Goliath and heard his taunts, he said he would fight him. He had killed wild beasts while protecting his sheep and was very accurate with his sling. There was neither fear in David nor a need to wear burdensome armor. When Goliath saw he was being approached by an armor-less boy with a shepherd’s staff and sling, he was both surprised and amused. He said “Am I a dog that you come to me with sticks?” David, however, quickly dispatched the giant with a stone hurled from his sling. The stone penetrated Goliath’s unprotected forehead and he fell. David then used Goliath’s own sword to behead him.
Osmar Schindler’s colored lithograph, David and Goliath, depicts the self-assured giant standing with his head back in laughter at the sight of David. The men in the Philistine army behind him were anticipating a show-down between two warriors and they too must have wondered what was going on with the appearance of David. In his right hand Goliath is holding a spear and his left hand is resting easily on his waist. He did not take David seriously. Even his shield-bearer is standing aside and leaving him not fully protected. Goliath’s thoughts were perhaps “Are you kidding? What is this?”
Regardless of size differences, David was not intimidated. Before going out to confront Goliath, he told Saul, “The Lord who saved me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will save me from the hand of the Philistine.” In the foreground, David has both feet planted firmly on a boulder as he looks at Goliath. He is ready and in a moment the stone placed in his sling’s pouch will be swung and released to put an end to Goliath.
There are many paintings and drawings of David’s encounter with Goliath. They range from Sunday School cartoons to gory images of Goliath being beheaded or David holding up Goliath’s severed head. David is well represented also in sculpture. Two of the most noted sculptures of David are Donatello’s David (with Goliath’s head at his feet) and Michelangelo’s David (holding a sling over his left shoulder).
Hovak Najarian © 2024
Art & Music
More about the lithograph process:
Osmar Schindler’s image of David and Goliath is a lithograph [litho: stone, graph: drawing (drawing on stone)]. The process is based on oil and water not mixing. When making a lithograph, a drawing is made with a greasy crayon on a flattened smooth-surfaced limestone. The surface is treated with a weak acid solution which rolls off the crayon drawing and covers the unmarked areas of the stone. After the drawing is removed with a solvent, the surface is made wet. Water clings to the treated surface but not to where the drawing was made (and removed). When the stone is inked with a large roller, the ink is rejected by the watered surface and clings only to where there was once a drawing. Paper is placed over the inked stone and it is run through a press. When the paper is pulled off the stone, the image (once a drawing on the stone) is now on the paper (in reverse). Multiple prints may be made by this process. If color is to be used, a separate stone is used for each color. Artists may color a lithograph by hand after it has been printed. ~Hovak Najarian
For more art and art commentary search the Art & Music Category or use Hovak Najarian as your search term.
Hear what the Spirit is saying 
.jpg){kind=link}
