Alexandra Parady
November 10, 2014
History of Western Art
SAR 105 02
David by Donatello
The story of David and Goliath is a very well known legend that
become widely popular within the Renaissance time period. Donato di
Niccol di Betto Bardi, known more popularly as Donatello, is not the
only artist of the Renaissance to crate a statue of David in his time.
Donatello actually did two of the same biblical character himself.
Donatellos statue of David (see Figure 1) was a bronze nude of a
young teenaged looking boy in contrapposto. This version of David was
commissioned by the Medici family as a private courtyard piece. This
art piece was not something that was supposed to be seen by the
public eye, rather David was commissioned by the powerful Medici
family as something to be viewed and enjoyed privately by the family
and their friends in their courtyard (Maureen Vissat, personal
communication, November 7, 2014).
The exact date for David is unknown, but it is speculated to be
dated between somewhere within 1430 to 1460 (Donatellos David).
David is also one of the first bronze nudes in art seen since ancient
times, one of the first of the Renaissance period. This version of David
stands five feet two and a fourth inches tall cast in complete bronze in
the Museo Navionale del Bargello, France. This sculpture is made to
look like a beautiful, soft, sensual, and idealized young boy, in a way
that is undoubtedly comparable to the popular Greek flawless figures
(Gardner and Kleiner 427).
I chose this piece because it caught my eye most of the pieces
weve seen recently. When I first saw this sculpture in high school it
was alongside a lot of other sculptures of David and this version caught
my eye before the others for sure. I think one thing that really drew me
in to this piece is the color of the bronze used and how dark the piece
is. I also really liked the softness portrayed in this sculpture. Not many
sculptures were often created in this dark in color while looking this
soft and being of this sort of style. Overall, I chose this piece because
its just generally very pleasing to the eye.
As previously stated, this piece portrays a scene from the David
and Goliath tale. In this story David, a young teenager, who decides to
go in to battle with Goliath, a giant (Fairchild). Works of art based off of
this story were very popular during this particular time period and a lot
of artwork of David began to appear more frequently. This
representation of David is different from a lot of the others that were
produced around the same time. In this portrayal of David, he is being
depicted as a young boy, as he was in the original story, and David is
also nude. The boy has the head of the giant, Goliath, under his foot,
which was a common theme in David and Goliath pieces. This piece is
very sensual in the way David is positioned as well as the feather that
is leading from Goliaths helmet and traveling up Davids leg to his
thigh. This caused some to perceive some homosexual subtext and
connotation behind this piece (Maureen Vissat, personal
communication, November 7, 2014).
In most of the other depictions Ive seen such as Domenico
Ghirlandaios David (see Figure 2) or even another David statue by
Donatello (see Figure 3), David is depicted as seeming to be older than
the original Biblical tale had made him out to be. In most of these other
representations, David is also clothed, sometimes even in armor. The
armor as well as the age difference both strays from the story. In the
original account David was supposed to have been a young boy,
approximately in his teenaged years, dressed in his simple tunic,
carrying his shepherd's staff (Fairchild). I think this version of
Donatellos David more accurately displays the original story than the
others, as this version is wearing a shepherds hat. The biggest part
that makes this piece more like the David from the fable lays in the
boys maturity.
David is compromised of countless small details. From the leaves
on the boys hat, to the sandals he is wearing, to the feather going up
Davids leg, this sculpture has a lot of thorough elements. In this piece,
David has his foot stepping on the decapitated head of Goliath, who he
has just defeated, though he looks calm and composed. He is so
relaxed and at peace that, if it werent for the head, it would make it
seem as if he werent just in a gruesome bloody battle a few moments
beforehand. This sculpture looks very soft although it is made of cold
hard bronze. The whole piece is smooth and supple looking in a way
that is reminiscent of the Kritos Boy (see figure 4) of the Greek Early
Classical Period. David, of course, is not of the Greek Early Classical
Period but is of the much later Renaissance in Italy. This piece is very
Renaissance in technique, which is very similar to the Classical periods
due to the influence of it on the humanist movement. David is dark in
color, as he is made of bronze, unlike Donatellos other David that is
made of marble and therefore lighter in color. Davids eyes are
downcast in this piece, though he is not looking at the head he is
standing on. David was originally created to be positioned on a high
pedestal when being viewed. If someone were to look up at it in the
way it was meant to be viewed, I feel that Davids downcast gaze
would make it seem as if David is looking right at the viewer from the
observers viewpoint. Having the sculpture seem to be looking at the
onlooker would therefore cause the viewer more thoroughly involved in
the piece of art itself.
Donatellos David has typical and atypical qualities of its time
period. During this century, humanism became a very popular
movement. In the Renaissance, a considerable amount of the accepted
and prevalent themes seem to be heavily influenced by ancient Greek
Classical art. David is not different from this. David has the body of a
highly idealized young boy in contrapposto, which would all not be
strange to be shown in Greek art, and therefore, be normal for the this
time period as well.
The atypical part of David is that as previously stated, David is
shown as the age he was supposed to have been in the original biblical
story and also, it is a nude sculpture. Donatellos sculpture was one of
the first nudes since classical art. Nudity was considered immoral and
indecent in the Middle Ages. The only nudity shown around this time
period was in a negative context, such as sinners in Hell. David was a
large step away from these opinions and beliefs, showing a popular
figure nude in a way that is neither damning nor shaming this
character (Gardner and Kleiner 427).
David raises very few questions for me. This piece seems to be
relatively straightforward to me. The story of David and Goliath, which
is the story behind the sculpture, is a widely known biblical tale that
many people know. I knew the story from when I was younger and
heard it again in my last year of high school, so Ive always been pretty
familiar with the tale behind David. Many sculptors and painters of the
Renaissance focused on this tale and many works of art of David were
done. As previously stated, I have very few questions bout this piece,
of the few questions I have are; Why did Donatello decide to go against
the norm and against what was acceptable in the society to make this
piece nude? Why did Donatello make this piece so sensual and erotic
with Davids gaze, pose, and the feather that leads the viewers eye up
Davids legs?
Donatellos David is truthfully an extraordinary piece of its time
period. Donatello was trying to accomplish a sculpture that accurately
and truthfully showed the popular David from David and Goliath as a
small young teenaged boy who had just defeated a giant. I think
Donatello accurately accomplished and succeeded in having this piece
show the story. I believe this piece very accurately translates to the
moment after David defeats Goliath in battle. Showing David standing
with a foot on Goliaths head shows the power and dominance he had
over his opponent during the battle and accurately shows what
happens at the conclusion of the theological myth. Also, having him
appear as the adolescent youth he was in the story makes the viewer
be able to read how imbalanced this conflict seemed from the
beginning of it. I believe Donatellos David very accurately comes
across the way I believe Donatello wanted the story to come out.
(Figure 1)
3)
(Figure
(Figure 2)
(Figure 4)
Works Cited
Gardner, Helen, and Fred S. Kleiner. "Chapter 16: Italy, 1400 to 1500."
Gardner's Art through the Ages: The Western Perspective. 13th
ed. Boston, MA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2010. 427-28.
Print.
"Donatello's David." Donatello's David. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2014.
<https://www.oneonta.edu/faculty/farberas/arth/arth213/donatell
o_david.html>.
Fairchild, Mary. "What the Story of David and Goliath Teaches Us About
Facing Giants." About. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.
<http://christianity.about.com/od/biblestorysummaries/p/davidan
dgoliath.htm>.
