David

This David from 1501 depicts the Old Testament hero after slaying Goliath, a subject popular in Renaissance art as a symbol of virtue triumphing over brute force. Giorgione's treatment transforms the heroic subject into a contemplative image, the young David shown in meditative mood rather than triumphant action. Characteristic of the artist's mature approach, the work displays poetic, dreamlike subjects resistant to precise narrative reading, unified atmospheric color suffusing landscape and figure, sfumato absorbed from Leonardo filtered through Venetian sensibility.

The softly modeled figure and warm tonality replace the sharp outlines and bright colors of earlier treatments, reflecting Giorgione's revolutionary approach to integrating figure and atmosphere.