[1][2] It was about the beginning of the 1540s that Titian received commissions for a great number of pictures from the brothers of Santo Spirito, who possessed the work of his early career, the San Marco Enthroned.

[3] Georg Gronau writes of these three pictures collectively: We shall easily perceive the connection between these subjects; all are scenes fitted to display passionate movement, and in each there are only a few—two or three—figures.

There we see the tall, erect form of Abraham in twofold action—his left- hand rests on the neck of the boy who is kneeling on the pile of wood, his right hand brandishes the sacrificial knife, and at the same time he turns right round to the angel who has stayed his movement, light across the whole of the third picture lies aslant the body of the giant; over him stands the boy David, who raises his arms in gratitude to Heaven; a ray of sunshine breaks through the heavy clouds.For grandeur of conception Titian here—if anywhere—approaches Michelangelo.

In the composition commemorating David's victory, the outstretched body of Goliath supplies the strongest mass of colour; the light from above seems almost solid as it touches the boy's upraised arms.

Kahr argues that the key to interpreting this unprecedented scene in art lies in the importance of the sword in Titian's painting which David is dedicating to God in an act of consecration.