David Victorious over the Amalekites

By the summer of 1721 the first pictures from Naples had reached Turin. On 25 August the royal household paid a gilder, one G. Pasquali, for gilding two large carved frames for two paintings by Solimena. Payments recorded in 1723 and a letter the king sent to the painter that November show that the pair were this David and the Queen of Sheba, the first two canvases ordered.

The story is from the First Book of Samuel. While David and his men were away, Amalekite raiders burned the town of Ziklag and carried off its women and children, David's own two wives among them. David pursued the raiders, fell on their camp and brought everyone back. Here he stands at the centre in armour, with his wives Ahinoam and Abigail at his sides, and with a commanding gesture orders a soldier crouching on the left to kill one of the enemy. All around, the Israelites gather up the spoils among the bodies of Amalekite men, women and children.