The treatment of the subject is unusual, as David is more often shown alone in triumph with the Head of Goliath. Here it is the figure of Saul which dominates the entire composition. The purse he holds is symbolic of the reward Saul is offering for the elimination of the giant Goliath. The whole story is taken from the Book of Samuel, Chapters 17-18. The figure of the young David is a direct quotation from a Giorgione type, with its partly shadowed face and elaborate headdress. Even the colour is richly Venetian in this part of the picture which forms a stark contrast to the colossal head of the dead Goliath.  Saul is shown ill at ease with David’s triumph, because for all his success against the Philistines, Saul’s position was still insecure.

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