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Standing figure of the partially clad youth 'David'. He gazes downwards; in his raised right hand he holds a sword removed from the scabbard held in his left hand. He stands on his left leg upon an intergral bronze circular base whilst his right leg is bent and the foot planted firmly on the decapitated head of Goliath. Bronze mounted upon a square of mottled red marble.

Mercié's sculpture of David with the head of the giant Goliath was seen as a symbol of hope for a French nation weakened by their defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. It was such a popular image that miniature bronzes like this one were produced in six different sizes. The sculptor's blend of classicism and realism influenced the New Sculpture Movement in Britain.