David and Goliath

This ivory relief depicting David and Goliath is made by Francis van Bossuit in the Netherlands in c. 1675-92. The young beardless David is shown reclining, wearing loose drapery, which reveals his upper body and legs, holding a sword in his left hand, and resting his right arm on Goliath's head. The relief is illustrated in Matthew Pool's published engravings of van Bossuit's work, The Statue's or Art's Cabinet of 1727. Both the smooth carving of David's body, resembling wax, and the contrasting rough dappling of the background, are typical of the artist. Bosuit was one of the most accomplished ivory carvers of the late 17th century and the subtlety of this relief bears out his admirers' claim that he could carve ivory "as if it was wax". It was almost certainly carved in Amsterdam, where Bossuit moved late in his career, having spent many years in Italy.