David with Goliath’s Head

Condensing the biblical story of the David’s victorious struggle over the giant Philistine general Goliath, Caravaggio interprets it in a personal way: he shows a melancholy victor who seems to reflect both on himself and his victim. Despite the smooth surface (wood as a painting surface is unusual for Caravaggio), the stylistic proximity to “Madonna of the Rosary” and other works of Caravaggio from his Roman period can be seen.