| David | |
|---|---|
 Donatello, David, bronze, 1435–1440, Florence, Bargello, detail | |
| Artist | Donatello |
| Year | c. 1440s |
| Subject | David |
| Dimensions | 158 cm (62 in) |
| Location | Bargello, Florence |
David is abronze statue of thebiblical hero by theItalian Early Renaissance sculptorDonatello, probably made in the 1440s, and now in theBargello, Florence. Nude except for helmet and boots, it is famous as the first unsupported standing work ofbronze cast during theRenaissance, and the first freestanding nude male sculpture made since antiquity. It depicts David with an enigmatic smile, posed with his foot onGoliath's severed head just after defeating the giant. The youth is completely naked, apart from alaurel-topped hat and boots, and holds Goliath's sword.
The creation of the work is undocumented. Most scholars assume the statue was commissioned byCosimo de' Medici, but the date of its creation is unknown and widely disputed; suggested dates vary from the 1420s to the 1460s (Donatello died in 1466), with the majority opinion recently falling in the 1440s, when the new Medici Palace (now called thePalazzo Medici Riccardi) designed byMichelozzo was under construction.[1]
Decades earlier, Donatello worked on amarble statue of David. Both are now in theMuseo Nazionale del Bargello inFlorence. The bronze remains his most famous work, and was made for a secular context, commissioned by theMedici family. Theiconography of the bronzeDavid follows that of the marbleDavid: a young hero stands with weapon in hand, the severed head of his enemy at his feet. Visually, however, this statue is startlingly different. David is both physically delicate and remarkably effeminate. The head has been said to have been inspired by classical sculptures ofAntinous, thefavourite of theEmperor Hadrian, renowned for his beauty. The statue's physique, contrasted with the large sword in hand, shows that David has overcome Goliath not by physical prowess, but through God. The boy's nakedness further implies the idea of the presence of God, contrasting the youth with the heavily-armoured giant. David is presented uncircumcised, which is customary for male nudes in Italian Renaissance art.[2]
The story ofDavid and Goliath comes from1 Samuel 17. TheIsraelites are at war with thePhilistines, whose champion – Goliath – repeatedly offers to meet the Israelites' best warrior insingle combat to decide the whole battle. None of the trained Israelite soldiers is brave enough to fight the giant Goliath, until David – a shepherd boy who is too young to be a soldier – accepts the challenge. Saul, the Israelite leader, offers David armour and weapons, but the boy is untrained and refuses them. Instead, he goes out with his sling, and confronts the enemy. He hits Goliath in the head with a stone, knocking the giant down, and then grabs Goliath's sword and cuts off his head. The Philistines withdraw as agreed and the Israelites are saved. David's special strength comes from God, and the story illustrates the triumph of good over evil.[3]
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According to one theory, it was commissioned by theMedici family in the 1430s to be placed in the center of the courtyard of the old Medici Palace. Alternatively it may have been made for that position in the newPalazzo Medici, where it was placed later, which would place the commission in the mid-1440s or even later. The statue is only recorded there by 1469. The Medici family were exiled from Florence in 1494, and the statue was moved to the courtyard of thePalazzo della Signoria along with Donatello's bronzeJudith,[4] which had an equal topic and potent symbolic meaning. TheDavid lost its place (and its column) in the middle of the courtyard to a fountain in the 1450s and was installed in a niche flanking the doorway near the stairs, where theJudith stood since the early 1500s.[5]
In the 17th century, theDavid was moved to thePalazzo Pitti, then to theUffizi in 1777, and then finally, in 1865, to the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, where it remains today.[6][7][8]
According toVasari, the statue stood on a column designed byDesiderio da Settignano in the middle of the courtyard of the old Palazzo Medici; an inscription seems to have explained the statue's significance as a political monument.[9] A quattrocento manuscript containing the text of the inscription is probably an earlier reference to the statue; unfortunately the manuscript is not dated.[10] Although a political meaning for the statue is widely accepted, what that meaning is has been a matter of considerable debate among scholars.[11]
No contemporary responses to theDavid have been found. Nevertheless, the fact that the statue was placed in the main government building of theRepublic of Florence in the 1490s suggests that, at least by then, it was not viewed as controversial. In the early 16th century, the Herald of theSignoria mentioned the sculpture in an unsettling light: "The David in the courtyard is not a perfect figure because its right leg is tasteless."[12] By mid-centuryVasari was describing the statue as so naturalistic that it must have been cast from a live model. Modern 20th- and 21st-century art historians have not been able to reach a consensus on the correct interpretation.[citation needed]
Goliath's beard curls around David's sandaled foot, as if the young hero is running his toes through his dead opponent's hair. Goliath is wearing a winged helmet. David's right foot stands firmly on the short right wing, while the left wing, considerably longer, extends up his right leg to his groin.[citation needed]
The figure has been interpreted in a variety of ways. One has been to suggest that Donatello was homosexual and that he was expressing that sexual attitude through this statue.[13][14] A second is to suggest that the work refers to homosocial values in Florentine society without expressing Donatello's personal tendencies.[15][16] A third interpretation is thatDavid represents Donatello's effort to create a unique version of the male nude, to exercise artistic licence rather than copy the classical models that had thus far been the sources for the depiction of the male nude in Renaissance art.[17]
The traditional identification of the figure was questioned in 1939 byJenő Lányi [de], with an interpretation leaning toward ancient mythology, the hero's helmet especially suggestingHermes orMercury. A number of scholars since have followed Lányi, sometimes referring to the statue asDavid-Mercury.[18] If the figure were indeed meant to represent Mercury, it may be supposed that he stands atop the head of the vanquished giantArgus Panoptes.[citation needed] However, allquattrocento references to the statue identify it as David.[19]
The statue underwent restoration from June 2007 to November 2008. This was the first time the statue had ever been restored, but concerns about layers of "mineralised waxings" on the surface of the bronze led to the 18-month intervention. The statue was scraped with scalpels (on the non-gilded areas) and lasered (on the gilded areas) to remove surface build-up.[20]
David continued to be a subject of great interest for Italian patrons and artists. Later representations of the biblical hero include
Following the model of Donatello'sDavid for other figures are for example Pollaiuolo's bronzetto ofHercules at Rest (c. 1480), two figures ofAndrea del Castagno's cycle ofIllustrous Men and Women from theVilla Carducci at Legnaia (detached frescoes, 1448–49,Uffizi, Florence).Pontormo andFrancesco da Sangallo are among the artists who made sketches of the bronzeDavid, that have been preserved (c. 1514 and 1455 resp., Uffizi).[21]
Plaster casts taken from original sculptures that were otherwise unobtainable, were bought by museums and other collections; some had their own plaster workshops, like theStaatliche Museen inBerlin. Among the 7000 casts the workshop produced since 1819 is also a copy of the bronzeDavid, that was taken from the original some time before 1880, and served itself again for over a dozen plaster copies in the last century alone.[22]
TheVictoria and Albert Museum inLondon has also aDavid in their huge plaster collection, although with a broken sword. Full-size white marble copies are to be found in the Temperate House at theRoyal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Surrey (near London), and at theSlater Museum at theNorwich Free Academy inNorwich, Connecticut, United States.[23]
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