The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston has acquired an important picture by Claude Vignon (1593-1670), depicting the biblical hero David. Focusing the viewer’s attention entirely on the foreground, the painting’s subject matter, the concentration of light and the isolated, single figure are clearly informed by Caravaggio. This canvas was completed during Vignon’s time in Paris, when he gained the admiration of Marie de Medici and her court, and assumed the role of interpreting the taste of a sophisticated, wealthy public who were both faithful to tradition and hungry for innovation.
December 8, 2017