David with the Head of Goliath

The present painting depicts a young man in a three-quarter pose, donning a feathered cap and holding a sword in his left hand. We find here obvious reminiscences of Caravaggio’s painting. Nevertheless, Desubleo shows a clear tendency towards abstraction of form, pondering the classicising idealization of Domenichino’s figures, and this would be one of the hallmarks of his art throughout his long career. This stylistic orientation makes Desubleo one of the leading exponents of Italian classicism.