David with the Head of Goliath and Two Soldiers

This canvas closely follows Caravaggio’s naturalistic approach, both in terms of form and content. A strong chiaroscuro governs the scene, highlighting the figure of David. The artist has created a compact group of half-length figures situated behind a table on which David has rested the decapitated head of Goliath, all set against a dark background which could be a wall and which serves to block any recession into depth, creating a very shallow foreground space.