The function of the work of art would be to stand before the city, and to show the city as wisdom personified, and by implication show that the wisdom came from the works and power of the Medici. It would make an analogy between the city-state of Florence and the ancient city-state of Athens. Because Athens was a genuine republic, it might even deflect some criticism from the Medicis, who were technically supposed to be residents of a republic, even though they ruled from behind the scenes. The setting of the sculpture, next to David, outside the city gates would act as a powerful warning of the city's power (with the violence of the anvil and David's shotgun) as well as strike a balance between Classical representations of learning and the still-important tenants of the Catholic faith that must be honored in a world still dominated by the clergy.

The work would be seen by the people of Florence as yet another fitting tribute to their city's greatness by the Medicis, and to the neighboring city-states like Milan the statue would be seen as a warning. The glory of the statue would pay tribute to the new interest in the Classical past, and proudly use a beautiful, feminine human form to celebrate a great city. The gold of the anvil might suggest the wealth of the family, its strength and power, and also the ability of such gold to enact violence. The kingly representation of the greatest god Jove and the father of wisdom in a sculpture that was the result of Medici patronage...

Yet the Medicis wished that their power, over the authority of the Church and the technical legal status of Florence as a republic would reign supreme. They were making a new republic of wisdom that was in reality not a democracy at all, just like "David," for all of the gestures made to Biblical times in its name and in the statue's slingshot, really strikes the viewer as more of a celebration of Man and the artistry of the sculptor than the divine. The sculpture would pay homage to the right ideology on the surface, but an even deeper message of raw power would be expressed by the image of stone and metal.
Works Cited

Essak, Shelly. "Art History 101 - Early Renaissance Art." 2007. 20 Apr 2007. http://arthistory.about.com/cs/arthistory10one/a/early_ren.htm

Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance." PBS.com. 2007. 20 Apr 2007. http://www.pbs.org/empires/medici/medici/snapshots.html

Pioch, Nicolas. "La Renaissance: Italy." Web Museum Paris. 2002. 20 Apr 2007. http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/glo/renaissance/it.html

Renaissance Masterworks from the National Gallery of Art." National Gallery: Washington, D.C. 20 Apr 2007. http://www.nga.gov/press/2003/exhibitions/211/background.shtm