David During the Renaissance

Renaissance Art

When discussing with regard to the Old Testament figure of David and to how he was represented during the Renaissance, one would have to consider the current as a whole in order to gain a more complex understanding of why artists directed their attention toward the character. Artists during the Renaissance were determined to restructure social values for the masses to be able to acknowledge the significance of classical values. David had been a symbol of the classical era and artists in the Renaissance wanted to create works that glorified both him and the idea of the natural man in general.

It was probably David's legendary character that influenced artists to express particular interest in wanting to portray him. By looking at how each artist depicted him, one can understand the cultural elements that inspired these respective artists. All things considered, it would be safe to say that particular artists shaped each-other's perception of the character. These people inspired each-other and adopted ideas they identified with David. As a consequence, many of the most impressive portrayals of the King are similar, taking into account how artists borrowed ideas from others and contributed by introducing their personal perception of David.

David was a particularly intriguing character in Florence during the Renaissance, as individuals in the city loved the idea of a seemingly powerless character defeating someone who was believed by most to be unbeatable. The people of Florence had come across much hardship in the city's history as foreign invaders attempted to conquer it in a series of occasions. However, a diverse set of factors made it possible for Florence to stand strong in the face of its enemies and inspired many to associate it with the biblical figure of David. The Medici family was the most powerful group in the state and came to consider that David had been a symbol of their community as well as of Florence's. Many of the biblical hero's portrayals had been commissioned by them, with Donatello's David being likely to have been created with the purpose of being displayed in the palace courtyard of the Medici family in Florence. In spite of the city's size, the Medici family wanted to make it seem strong and thus used the figure of David as a means to transpose their opinion of the inhabitance.

Many people are likely to consider Michelangelo's David when thinking about the Renaissance and to the Old Testament character. However, Michelangelo's was just a version (surely, the most famous one) of David, as there are several other Renaissance artists who used David as inspiration for their works. "The three statues of David by Donatello, Michelangelo and Bernini, historically represent the beginning, height and end of the Italian Renaissance, as well as three very different views on man's interaction with God." (3 Davids, 3 Theologies: Donatello, Michelangelo and Bernini)

Donatello's portrayal of David is certainly one of the most impressive works in the history of art. Although the bronze version is the most common work that one is likely to come across when relating to Donatello's David, the Italian artist had experimented with sculpting David since his youth. The artist's Marble David stands as proof with regard to how Donatello felt attracted to this particular character and to how he dedicated an important part of his life to trying to portray him.

Donatello's bronze David was created between 1430 and 1440 and is shown in a way that would influence most viewers to feel the pride in the hero's mind as a result of having defeated Goliath. The character is carrying Goliath's sword and holds his foot on the giant's head, thus putting across the sentiment of accomplishment -- he managed to defeat Goliath and is now feeling overconfident with his position. This is an individual who acknowledged his power and is unhesitant about letting the whole world know about his feat.

At the time when the statue of first revealed, one of the most confusing things about Donatello's bronze David was the fact that it was portrayed in a feminine way. The hero's appearance is likely to be in disagreement with how most people would expect it to look. "David has a slim, almost adolescent look, rather than appearing to be a man with great strength." (The Subject of David from Donatello to Bernini) When considering the statue's general appearance, it seems like Donatello did not wish to create a work that would be physically intimidating to individuals seeing it. However, the fact that he has an arrogant stance and that he holds his leg on Goliath's head transmits a much stronger message -- the statue is intended to shock through the confidence it puts across (The Subject of David from Donatello to Bernini).

Andrea del Verrochio's David was created several decades consequent to Donatello's work, but the artist chose to represent the same period in the character's life. It would be safe to say that Verrochio was acquainted with Donatello's version of David and that it probably inspired him. The artist appears to have directed his attention toward creating a much more expressive version of the sculpture. While Donatello's David has a warrior's helmet on its head and it is relatively difficult to interpret the look on the statue's face, Verrochio's puts across intense feelings. The artist in this situation chose to portray David as a more mature individual than how Donatello portrayed him. The statue also presents an effeminate person that is holding his foot over the slain Goliath's head, but in this case the person seems to be more manly than Donatello's portrayal. To a certain degree, it might be possible that Donatello's homosexual background had a strong influence on how he perceived the biblical hero (David). In contrast to this, Verrochio choses to portray David in a way that has nothing to do with sexuality and actually chose to have the statue wear a Roman-type tunic in an attempt to have viewers focus on the scene rather than to concentrate particularly on the individual.

Verrochio obviously focused on the facial expression present in his sculpture. This is a character that seems to have overcome his childish feelings and has become familiarized with his power. However, he is reluctant to express the overconfidence one can find in Donatello's sculpture. It almost seems that this particular work was intended to emphasize the fact that David was mature at the time when he killed Goliath. To a certain degree, it appears that it was the event itself that made David feel that he experienced a type of maturing process.

Donatello was aware that the masses were likely to be acquainted with David's life consequent to this event and thus chose the overall scene as a means to make viewers feel closer to the individual. The artist probably considered the Medici family as being similar to David. However, he chose to show David in a moment when he did not know what was coming and was just enjoying the fact that he defeated Goliath. This contributes to the assumption that Donatello was able to tell that the Medici family would eventually going to pay for its extravagance. At the time the Medicis were in a state where they felt they were about to rule the world and were too blind to realize that their actions were likely to put them in a critical situation.