David and Goliath

A boy in an open blue robe stands at left, one hand raised to his temple in a weary or stunned gesture, a sling or strap dangling from his other hand. Before him a bearded man lies on his back on the ground, limbs sprawled, one arm flung out and legs bent, clearly defeated or lifeless. The horizon behind them glows with fire and roiling dark smoke.

The palette moves from the boy's cool blue robe and pale skin to the warm ochre ground and the intense orange-red conflagration filling the upper half of the canvas. Light from the fire falls onto both figures, picking out the boy's bare torso and the fallen man's exposed skin against deep shadow, and the stark opposition of standing child and fallen giant gives the scene a somber, unsettled mood.