Genially 2

You can't see it without zooming in, but at the very bottom of this painting, there is a stone lying at David's foot. We can presume that this is the very stone that David struck Goliath with, which is how he defeated the giant (Samuel, 49).

The stone from David’s slingshot hit Goliath on his forehead, and you can see the wound in the image with blood pouring out (Samuel, 49).

You are able to tell that Goliath is significantly larger than David by comparing the sizing of both of their hands. Goliath's hand is practically double the size of David's. We know that Goliath's height is "six cubits and a span," which is approximately 9 feet and 9 inches (Samuel, 4). David's height is not listed, but given that he is described to be young and that Goliath is basically a giant, we can assume Goliath would tower over him.

David used Goliath's sword to decapitate him, and we can see in this painting that Goliath's head is no longer attached to his body (Samuel, 51). David also collected Goliath's head and brought it to Jerusalem and it appears that he is starting to pick it up in this painting (Samuel, 54).

In the story, David refuses to wear armor to protect himself from Goliath because he is not used to wearing armor (Samuel, 39). Instead, he keeps on his tunic, which we can see him wearing in the painting.

David looks almost mournful. It shows him in a much gentler light instead of the common image of him being strong and masculine. The signs of his youth are apparent as he has loose hair and less defined features on his face. It is true to the text as David is described as being young and not a warrior.

One part of this painting that is inaccurate to the source text is Goliath's clothing. In the book, he "had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels; on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back (Samuel, 5)." In the painting, he seems to have iron armor, and it looks very light instead of heavy. This was probably easier to paint, and his armor was not a very important part of the story so it makes sense why Caravaggio depicted it this way.