Claude, 'Landscape with David at the Cave of Adullam', 1658

This scene closely follows the account in the Old Testament book of Samuel (book 2, 23: 13–17), which was rarely painted during the seventeenth century. King David and his companions emerge from the cave of Adullam. They cannot enter the city of Bethlehem and the valley below as the Philistines, whose pitched tents are just visible in the bottom left corner, occupy both. Three of the King’s bravest soldiers – Ishbaal, Eleazer and Shamma – have fulfilled the King’s wish for a drink of water by reaching a well at the city gate. They have returned and offer the water to him, but he raises his hands, refusing to drink. He is ashamed for risking their lives and offers it instead to God.

The Gallery owns 12 paintings by Claude, many combining landscapes and seascapes with depictions of stories from the Bible or classical mythology. This picture was painted in 1658 for Prince Agostino Chigi (1634–1705), then a young military commander in the papal service, and nephew to Pope Alexander VII (1599–1667). The unusual subject links the patron with the honourable behaviour of a great biblical hero, King David, and with the Christian world – the three warriors standing before the King anticipate the better-known scenes of the Three Kings offering gifts to the infant Christ.

The distance between the cave and the Bethlehem gate shows the difficulty of the task undertaken by the three warriors. The foreground activity framed by the central tree and cave, leading to a hazy evening sky, is typical of Claude’s idealised landscapes. Closer inspection reveals many intricate details: different plants have been placed along the bottom edge, the valley is occupied by small-scale animated figures, and buildings merge with the landscape beyond. Areas of the sky and central tree have been damaged, which prevents Claude’s skill being fully appreciated.

Agostino intended this painting to be paired with Argos, Io and Mercury by Salvator Rosa (1615–1673) (Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City), painted five years earlier, which hung beside it in an identical frame. The subject and composition of these paintings is very different. They present a contrast between princely self-restraint of King David in Claude’s painting and the immoral behaviour of the characters taken from Ovid’s Metamorphoses (book 1: 588) in Rosa’s work.