SALVIATI, Cecchino del
(b. 1510, Firenze, d. 1563, Roma)

The Story of David (3 scenes)

1552-54
Fresco
Sala dell'Udienza Invernale, Palazzo Ricci-Sacchetti, Rome

On the other shorter wall (the window wall) there are three other scenes. In the centre David Dances before the Ark of the Covenant. We can see the figure of Michal, gazing out of the window, who sees David dancing and despises him for it, because he had thereby uncovered himself before the handmaids of his servants as only fools uncover themselves.

The scene above the centre image represents David Spares the Sleeping Saul. The third scene at the top left corner depicts Michal Rescues David from Saul's Persecution.

To the left and right of the picture of David dancing, we find, on the picture frame, two naked or only very lightly clothed youths. They belong not to the depicted scene but rather to the world of paired figures who hold chiaroscuro images on the other walls above the scenes. The remarkable third naked youth, with wings on his shoulders and feet balancing a scale on a razor blade, is the god Kairos, the personification of Opportunity.