DAVID

by DONATELLO

I. DESCRIPTION OF THE WORK

A. Dimension of the Work

Height: 5 ft, 2 and ¼ inches
B. Medium Used
Bronze
C. Location
Original locaton: Palazzo Medici
Present location: Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence, Italy
D. Date Made
1425 – 1430 (Early Renaissance)

II. CONTENT / MEANING OF THE WORK

The statue of David, by Donatello, depicts a young David standing nude and holding in his
hand Goliath's sword, above the head of the dead Giant. Donatello's statue depicts a nude, with
some feminine features. Having feminine body serves both as a possible explanation of
Jonathan's love for him (because he was beautiful like a woman) as well as to show that his
accomplishment in tossing the stone at Goliath was not a result of his feminine like physic but
rather of God's will. David's nudity at the time of the battle is contrasted with Goliath's heavy
armor, for the head, which is visible under the Hero's feet, is covered in the most part by an iron
helmet.

Donatello has softened the static balance and firm stance of the traditional male figure.
This softening is evident in the placement of the two hands as well as the way David's free leg
gently rests on the head of Goliath. The smooth, polished skin is set off against the rougher
boots and curly locks of hair. This reference to touch is especially apparent in the detail of the
feather stroking the inner thigh of David's leg and in the detail of the way David runs his toes
through the locks of Goliath's beard. There is a disjunction between David's refined and graceful
pose with the apparent reverie and beauty of the facial expression and the gruesomeness of the
decapitated head of Goliath at his feet. It is hard to imagine this beautiful youth has moments
ago had been engaged in mortal combat and cut off the head of Goliath.

David is not completely nude. David wears a hat, which has a laurel on top, and a pair of
boots on his legs. The hat David is wearing is a straw hat. Peasants, shepherds and others
working in the open air wore these hats. Not being of much value in cold weather, the straw hat
is aimed mainly to protect from the sun. Therefore it is appropriate to David who came to fight
Goliath from the desert and therefore was wearing indeed clothes for hot weather. Being mainly
a practical garment of the lower classes, rather than a fashion statement, the straw hat had
many varieties and shapes according to different regions. The laurel on top of the hat is the
symbol for a victorious general in roman times.
 It is uncertain at this time whether the boots David wears, are military gear, or a
shepherd's boots. It would seem plausible that they are not metallic for David had rejected the
hero's armor because it was not comfortable to maneuver with it, so there is no reason to
assume he would have left on a metallic foot-wear. The fact that they are open-toed suggests
(as does the straw hat) a warm weather, and perhaps the sculptor's wish to have the toes
visible.

Donatello most likely received the idea of Ancient time warriors fighting in the nude with
helmet and boots from Greek Vase paintings depicting such scenes. However, at his time, it is
unknown whether Donatello had available to him one of the Greek vases with such a depiction.
Unlike, these ancient warriors, David has instead of a helmet (symbolizing the warrior) - the
shepherd's hat, in order to identify him as a shepherd as well as a warrior.

On the helmet of Goliath is depicted a scene of the ark of the covenant carried by angles,
and above the ark are the priests Ophni and Pinnees given offerings from the angels of God.
This scene is part of the battle in which the Israelites brought to the battle field with the
Philistines their most holy object (the ark of the covenant), trusting that God would bring them
victory, yet the Philistines were the victorious ones, and God did not help Israel (1 Samuel 4:3-
22).

It is well known that David was a symbol of the Florentine Republic, which like the Old
Testament youth stood up to its rivals.

In the context of the fifteenth century, adolescence was an extended period between
childhood and full adult maturity for the male in Renaissance Florence. The figure's slim
proportions, long locks of hair, and detached glance parallel those of the Donatello David
suggest a strong effeminate quality. The social construction of the adolescent in Renaissance
Florence is given visual form in these representations.

III. CHARACTERISTIC OF THE WORK

In keeping with the spirit of humanism, artists of the early Renaissance strove to portray
lifelike human forms with correct proportions and realistic clothing and expressions. Artists
developed new techniques to give paintings a more three-dimensional, life-like quality, and
commonly studied human and animal anatomy in efforts to better understand their subjects.

Italian Art of the 15th Century aims to remap the rich terrain of the Renaissance through a
critical juxtaposition of new and historical writing on the art of the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries. Setting contributions to dominant themes and current scholarship, including gender
studies, material culture and patronage, against the concerns of the older, 'classic' literature, this
exciting anthology clarifies both the limitations and values of received analytical structures and
suggests new avenues of inquiry. Thematic and reflexive, Italian Art of the 15th Century
interrogates one of the most fertile periods in art history as a cultural phenomenon--taking Italy
as its geographical starting point and opening out to a consideration of themes on the
international stage. Early renaissance is also characterizes the rendering of ideal forms rather
than literal appearance and the concept of the physical world as the vehicle or imperfect
embodiment of monumental spiritual beauty
 David, first bronze statue of the Renaissance which depicts the Hebrew king in the
classical style of a Greek god, and was the first freestanding nude figure sculpted since the
Roman era with range of emotion and filled with energy and thought, was not only know as the
slayer of Goliath but also served as a symbol for Florence's love of liberty. He represents the
one who took on a power much larger than himself and conquered that power. For this reason,
Donatello gives us David as an adolescent boy. This sensuous figure looks down at his own
body as if due to his heroic act, he is seeing for the first time his own beauty and strength. The
subject of this sculpture is self discovery. David was modeled on classical sculptures like the
Doryphoros. In fact, he was the first freestanding nude to be created since classical antiquity.
During the Christian Middle Ages, nudes were considered idolatrous and indecent. Following
that classical tradition, he is seen standing in the contraposto position, with an idealized body
and expressionless face. This is David after the battle. The head of Goliath under his foot. It is a
free-standing figures with a range of emotions and filled with energy and thought.

IV. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Croix, H. (1970). “Art Through Ages.” 6th Ed. Javanonich, Inc: United Sates of America,
p. 436.

Keller, H. (1969). “The Renaissance in Italy.” Sansoni, Editure: Florence, Italy. p. 126 –
127

Monteverdi, M. (1965). “The Book of Art: Halian Art to 1850”/ Grolier, Inc., p. 64.

Murray P. and Murray, L. (1963). “The Art of the Renaissance”. Frederick A. Praeger,
Inc.,p.41 -42

http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/arth/arth213/donatello_david.html

http://daphne.palomar.edu/mhudelson/StudyGuides/DontlovsMichel_WA.html