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The young shepherd David, who struck the huge Philistine warrior Goliath with a stone from the sling, has long inspired sculptors. But there are four masterpieces created by the best of the best...
"David" by Donatello, between 1430 and 1440
The bronze statue of David by the Renaissance sculptor Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi (Donatello) is the first upright nude figure since antiquity.
The young man David has already defeated Goliath, his foot rests on the head of a huge warrior. The future king stands with his head bowed almost coquettishly in a shepherd's hat with a laurel wreath, as if there had not just been a great battle between him and the giant Goliath. David seems vulnerable, nakedness only emphasizes this. In one hand, David holds a stone, in the other - the sword of Goliath, with which he cut off the head of his enemy.
"David" Verrocchio, 1462-1477
David of the sculptor Andrea Verrocchio almost repeats the pose of Donatello's David, but this boy is not modest and is not self-absorbed. David Verrocchio is self-confident, perky and mischievous. He is clearly proud of having defeated such an opponent and is celebrating victory.
"David" Michelangelo, 1501-1504
Michelangelo started sculpture when he was twenty-six years old. The sculptor took up a huge block of marble, which several of his predecessors could not cope with.
Marble "David" by Michelangelo - a symbol of the Renaissance. Unlike the "Davids" of Donatello and Verrocchio, Michelangelo's hero has not yet accomplished his feat. He is concentrated and tense, he is directed forward and collected, and this concentration is not so much bodily as spiritual.
"David" by Michelangelo Buonarroti stands in the Gallery of the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence.
The Davids by Donatello, Verrocchio and Michelangelo have many copies. All three sculptures can be seen in the Italian courtyard of the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts.
"David" Bernini, 1623
The masters of not only the Renaissance, but also the Baroque were inspired by the personality of David. The Baroque sculptor Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini carved out of marble a furious David, who brandishes a sling. The figure of David, depicted as a strong youth, twists in a powerful movement. Emotions are read unmistakably: anger, concentration, tension and confidence in victory. Bernini's "David" is now in the Galleria Borghese in Rome.
The statue of David, created by the outstanding Italian sculptor Michelangelo Buonarroti for more than five hundred years, amazes Italians and guests of Florence with its grandeur.
This statue has made a name for its creator, who has earned a generous payment for months of its creation. In a short time, the whole world was filled with its duplicates, which broke the record for the number of copies released. Today, the original building, carved from white marble by Buonarroti, can be seen in the museums of the Academy of Fine Arts of Italy.
The statue has become a symbol of freedom and strength for the Italian people, divided in the 15th century by internal conflicts and external wars.
Creation stories
The Renaissance, which gave the world a new look at the role of man in science and religion, combined the ancient vision, where the main character of the artistic line is man, as the crown of nature. Therefore, the statue of David, having absorbed all these qualities, becomes its main ideal. It was created during the heyday of the Renaissance, changed masters and location, suffered from nature and human ignorance, saw outstanding personalities of the past who remotely participated in its fate.
It all started in the mines of Carrara, where they got a marble block of grandiose dimensions. This event coincides with the desire of the wool merchants' guild to install stone characters from the Old Testament around the central temple. They were entrusted with the improvement and decoration of Santa Maria del Fiore, and they decided that the number of biblical statues should be equal to twelve, symbolizing the special attitude of the Florentine people to religion. As planned, all figures should amaze with their scope, creating large sizes. The resulting six-meter material of amazing dimensions was from the first days intended for the second king of Israel.
David is an outstanding biblical character who, from an ordinary shepherd, overcame a difficult path to the throne. Having struck down the first warrior of the main enemy of the Israeli people, Goliath of Gath, in a difficult battle, he still bears the victorious spirit in his name to this day. The guy is often depicted on historical monuments, and repeatedly becomes a central figure in the Renaissance. The young man was able to prove his involvement in the royal family with endurance and unshakable courage and is an important religious hero for many people from different faiths.
Created in Florence by Michelangelo, the statue of David has an interesting history. Her path to the central place of the state square was thorny and winding. The main difficulty was resolving the issue with the master ready to create a masterpiece of this size. On the territory of the cathedral there were already two works commissioned by the guild, which were created by Donatello and his assistant Agostino di Duccio, so they became the first sculptors to evaluate the material and mentally create the future image. After the death of the master, his apprentice became the only candidate for the role of the creator, but in 1466 he also retired. The raw material falls into the hands of Simone of Fiesole, his small achievements in hewing legs made Michelangelo's work much more difficult. With inept movements, he left irreparable marks on the ideal muscular body of a man and forever determined the pose occupied by the hero. The sculptor managed to make a through hole between the king's legs and cut the marble with tools so that in some places the traces are still visible.
For several decades until the beginning of the 16th century, an abandoned giant boulder stood, collapsing under the natural elements in an open area. Many talented individuals were offered to bring what they had begun to the end, among which was the already recognized Leonardo da Vinci. In his old age, along with the rest, he did not consider it necessary to complete other people's shortcomings and saw the material that had been spoiled for forty years without protection from nature.
The pinnacle of creativity Michelangelo Buonarroti (Michael Angelus Bonarotius) as a sculptor was the statue of David (David). Michelangelo created all his sculptures contrary to the canons, and thanks to this innovation they became famous for centuries. He did not hew a block, but carved a figure out of stone, as if freeing the image embedded in it.
History of David Michael Angelus
The Florentine cathedral church, richly decorated with red Italian marble, was decided to be further decorated around the middle of the 15th century. This work was started by Donatello, but managed to create only one sculpture. The giant block of marble, from which the statue of David was to be made, was gradually destroyed. With the onset of the 16th century, it was decided to resume work. The history of the manufacture of the statue of David was continued. An authoritative commission, which included Leonardo da Vinci (Leonardo da Vinci), recognized that the damaged marble can be used to make a statue. The implementation of the project was entrusted to the young sculptor Michelangelo Buonarroti. Work began in September 1501.
Uniqueness of David
The height of the sculpture was 547 cm. But, despite its huge size, Michelangelo coped with the task brilliantly. In the manufacture of the sculpture of David, an iconographic innovation was applied. Previously, the hero was portrayed at the moment of his victory over the giant, when the head of the vanquished was at the feet of the young man. It also depicts the process of preparing for battle. David's gaze is filled with anger and directed at the enemy, he clutches a sling in his hand, his beautiful head is turned to the left. The young man is maximally concentrated and purposeful, confident in victory, despite the obvious physical superiority of his opponent. Michelangelo's David is not a fragile teenager (as he was previously portrayed), but a wonderful athlete, admirable.
Why David became a symbol of Florence
There is an interesting story connected with the placement of the finished statue. Initially, it was planned to be installed near the cathedral. But when the work came to an end, the general civil significance of the work exceeded its religious meaning. The statue impressed the Florentines so much that it was decided to place it in the loggia of Lanza (at that time city council meetings were held in this place). Florence triumphed, and the opening of the monument in 1504 became a real national holiday. The small city-republic of Florence was forced to constantly repel the attack of stronger opponents (in the north it was threatened by France, and in the south by the Papal States). Residents interpreted the meaning of the sculpture as a call for fair management and protection of the city. Therefore, the young David, who defeated the giant Goliath, became a symbol of the Republic of Florence, defending its freedom.
Where can I see the original
For more than three centuries, David has adorned Piazza della Signoria (Piazza della Signoria). But in 1873 the sculpture was replaced by a copy, and the original was moved to the Academy of Fine Arts (Florence), where it is located to this day. The statue is open for all-round visibility. Florence does not have a subway, the bus is the main transport here. The Academy is located in the city center at the intersection of the main bus routes. The biography of Michelangelo is closely connected with Florence, so it is natural that his most famous work is kept in this city.
Restoration of David
In the manufacture of the statue, not very high-quality marble was used, and over time it began to collapse. In 2002, the statue was restored, having cleaned it with a special solution (water and chemicals were not used), rice paper and fine brushes. At the end of two years of painstaking work, the statue was polished with scraps of suede and cloth.
Some interesting facts
When the statue was examined by anatomy experts, an interesting picture emerged. It turned out that for the sake of artistic expressiveness, Michelangelo distorted the proportions of some parts of David's body, and the muscle between the spine and the right shoulder blade was completely absent. Interestingly, when Florence decided to make a gift of a copy of the statue to the city of Jerusalem (for its 3000th anniversary), it was refused by the authorities. This was argued by the fact that the hero is naked and not circumcised. Most people at the sight of the statue of David have a feeling of admiration and reverence. But not everyone has the same feelings. David was assassinated several times. The sculpture was damaged for the first time in 1527 during an uprising. The second attack was carried out by the unfortunate sculptor Pierre Kanata, who knocked off a toe on his left foot from a marble statue with a blow of a hammer. The undying interest in this work of art has led to the creation of many copies of it. The most famous of them are in the Pushkin Museum of Moscow (Moscua) and the Victoria and Albert Museum (Victoria and Albert Museum) in London (London).
Description of the statue of David can be found on numerous Internet sites, many books are devoted to this topic. But it is better to look at this miracle for yourself. Florence is waiting for you!
The five-meter statue of a young man, the ancient Israeli king David, amazes viewers even today, when the world is accustomed to giant structures. However, a catchy eye is not able to appreciate the true skill of the artist. A sculptor who cuts a block of marble of this size and transforms it into the proportions of an ideal human body must certainly have an excellent visual memory: after all, at any given time, only a small part of the entire figure is in front of his eyes.
I must say that the artist needed to depict the figure of David as if in motion, using a classic dynamic pose - contraposto. At the same time, to enhance the artistic effect, Michelangelo resorted to distorting the real proportions of the body, even eliminating the “extra” muscles. What Michelangelo created almost single-handedly is now being explored by scientists using technology and computer simulations. It is clear that Michelangelo's "David" is deservedly listed among the most significant creations of the human genius.
There were many legends and anecdotes about this figure during the lifetime of the great master. Many of them are given in his biography, written by Vasari. For example, they said that the head of the Florentine Republic did not like the nose of the David, they say, too long, and he asked Michelangelo to shorten it; the sculptor pretended to shorten the nose, although in fact he did nothing; but the head of the republic this time said: “Now it’s normal!”. All this, of course, is a legend.
Another similar legend tells that a giant marble block, on which the previous sculptor worked, after his death began to be considered damaged and was preparing to be thrown away; Michelangelo allegedly bought it for nothing, and then surprised the world with the finished sculpture. But this story is at least partially true: the statue, begun long before Michelangelo, called the Giant, in fact, stood idle for a long time - the masters who took up it died.
Chief among them was Duccio, a student of Donatello; also Donatello himself was supposed to take part in the creation of "David". Be that as it may, the great Florentines of the past could not finish their creation, leaving a pile of marble to soak in the rain in the square near the cathedral. But then the city authorities wished to continue work on the statue, for which a whole group of experts was invited before that. Among these experts was Leonardo. All of them recognized the block fit for work. The creation of the work was entrusted to Michelangelo, who had already begun to gain fame in the republic.
Michelangelo himself said that he was literally at war with his statue: “David”, they say, is armed with a sling, and I, Michelangelo, with a bow. It's all about the sculptor's name, which means "Archangel Michael" in translation. But there was also rivalry with the legendary Israeli king in this work: David defeated Goliath with a sling, and the archangel Michael fought with Satan himself with a bow. Perhaps Michelangelo felt that both of them - he and his hero, each in his own way, were fighting against the forces of evil.
In the modern era, starting from the 19th century, "David", like many other masterpieces of the Renaissance, has become the object of kitsch and commercial culture: numerous "copies" and "variations" of Michelangelo's masterpiece are created, photographic, pictorial and graphic works that exploit the creation great master.
Religious or civil sculpture?
Florentines appreciated the civic message of the sculpture "David" almost immediately. Therefore, only a few insisted that the statue remain near the cathedral: most people agreed that it be moved to the building where the government council met.
The figure of David has long been associated among the Florentines with the independence and power of their republic. Before Michelangelo, the sculptural image of this young man was created by other great Florentine masters.
- One of them is Verrocchio's sculpture "David", for which, according to legend, Leonardo himself posed. This is a bronze statue, on the face of which plays a kind of half-smile, which Leonardo himself would later fall in love with so much.
- Another statue belongs to Donatello. It's already marble. In it, Donatello, who worked, as it were, in two styles - "realistic" and "classical", came to a certain compromise, creating a work quite sublime and at the same time original, not copying antique statues.
All the predecessors of Michelangelo depicted David triumphant after the battle. Michelangelo, on the other hand, brought a new iconographic appearance of the young man, depicting him preparing for battle. His expression is quite calm, but his muscles are tense. David is an example of a naked male body, radiating strength and power; only thinness and disproportionately large hands tell the viewer that we are just a young man.
In the 20th century, the Jerusalem authorities refused to accept a copy of the statue from the Florentines, since in the work of Michelangelo David is not circumcised, and in general is depicted as a young Italian of the 16th century.
If the paintings and sculptures of Michelangelo Buonarroti, with their predominantly civic message and realism, were generally favorably received by the high society - wealthy citizens, nobles and church leaders, then the work of his later namesake, Michelangelo Caravaggio, the public refused to accept, rejecting in every possible way: they said, for example, that the religious canvases of Caravaggio were not made according to church canons.
Caravaggio also strove for unbridled realism, but his realism was not sublime: the artist seemed to expose the most unattractive sides of reality. The sublime in Caravaggio is rather "low"; Thus, the public was especially indignant at the picture in which the Evangelist Matthew is depicted in the guise of a peasant. It seems that people are tired of playing with realism, or they realized too quickly that reality is not quite the same as in the works of the Renaissance masters. Caravaggio, who worked in the Baroque era, differed from his contemporaries not only in his relentless pursuit of realism, but also in his sharp opposition of light and shadow.
Video: Sculpture. Michelangelo's David
There are few such famous and iconic sculptures in the world as Michelangelo's "David". From the moment the world saw this creation on September 8, 1504 in Piazza della Signoria in Florence, people have not ceased to admire him. But at the same time, not everyone knows the most interesting facts about this magnificent sculpture.
1. David was created for biblical reasons
At first glance, the famous naked man sculpted by Michelangelo does not look like a "biblical hero" at all. But if you look closely, you can see a sling thrown over David's left shoulder, and in his right hand he is clutching a stone. Thanks to these items, David defeated the giant Goliath in the famous biblical story.
2. The statue is much taller than a human
The height of "David" is 5.17 m, which is almost three times the height of the average person.
3. The hand of the statue is disproportionate
The statue's arm is too large and does not match the proportions of the rest of the body. This asymmetry is believed to have been deliberately allowed by Michelangelo in honor of David's nickname, "manu fortis" (strong hand).
4. David is left-handed
This can be argued based on the fact that the sling lies on the left shoulder, and the stone is on the right. Oddly enough, the body position of the statue is more suitable for right-handers.
5. The statue is carved from a single piece of marble
A block of marble that has turned into one of history's most famous masterpieces proves the old adage - what is trash to one person is treasure to another. Michelangelo created David from a piece of marble that had been abandoned twice before by other sculptors. Agostino di Duccio abandoned the project to create a sculpture of David, barely starting to trim the legs.
The reason was the death of Donatello, whose apprentice di Duccio. After that, the block of marble lay abandoned for 10 years. Next, Antonio Rosselino took up the statue, but he also soon abandoned work after he found a crack in the block. When Michelangelo finally began work on David in 1501, the piece of marble had been waiting for him for 40 years.
6. David was originally supposed to be installed at a high altitude
In 1501, the government of the city of Florence commissioned Michelangelo to create "David" as one of the statues intended to decorate the dome of the Florence Cathedral. But after the completion of the statue, Michelangelo's patrons were so impressed with his creation that they decided to abandon this plan and place the statue in the loggia of Lanzi (and then the statue moved to the Academy of Arts). In 2010, a replica of David was placed in the Florence Cathedral, as originally intended.
7. The statue has always been a delight
The sixteenth-century Italian painter and architect Giorgio Vasari wrote of David: "He who has seen this work will no longer be surprised by any sculpture in the world."
8 Michelangelo's reputation
Five years before David's debut, Michelangelo had already become famous for his Roman Pieta sculpture. But it was thanks to "David" that the 29-year-old Renaissance artist became known as a master sculptor. Four years later, in 1508, Michelangelo began work on his greatest achievement in painting, the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel.
9. David is from Ancient Greece
Michelangelo gave his sculpture a pose in which Hercules was often depicted. Some experts believe that it was Hercules who was depicted on the city seal of Florence.
10. David is a symbol of freedom
Although the initially commissioned sculpture was only of a religious nature, during Michelangelo's work on the David, Florence expelled the Medici family. That is why "David" has become a symbol of republican freedom and protection from the power of tyrants.
11. David and the Vandals
On September 14, 1991, the Italian artist Piero Cannata sneaked with a small hammer to a statue exhibited in the gallery of the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence. He managed to chip off part of David's toe before it was twisted by museum visitors. A forensic examination recognized the Italian as mentally insane, after which he was sent to a hospital.
12. There is more than one David
Because "David" is one of the most popular works of art in the world, there are millions of reproductions of it on T-shirts, mouse pads and other most unexpected things. Even in Florence, there are two full-size replicas: one stands in its original position in front of the Palazzo Vecchio, and a bronze copy towers over the city on the cathedral.
13 David Was Censored
In 1857, the Grand Duke of Tuscany was surprised by the stiffness of Queen Victoria of England, to whom he presented a copy of Michelangelo's statue. The queen was so shocked by the details of the nakedness that she ordered David's dignity to be covered with a removable plaster fig leaf.
14. Tourists damage the statue
More than 8 million visitors a year come to the gallery of the Academy of Arts to see David. Studies have shown that all these visitors create vibrations when walking, which damage the marble, causing cracks.
15. Who owns David
David has been exhibited at the Florentine Academy of Fine Arts since 1873. But the Italian government is seeking to reclaim ownership of the statue by making it a national treasure.
Connoisseurs of contemporary art are sure to be impressed.
