Comparing Donatello's Bronze David With Michelangelo's David

A change in man’s view of man during the Renaissance could be seen through art. For example, in Renaissance art, “One begins to […] feel stronger

The Renaissance began in the 1300’s and brought with it many new ideas and ways of thinking. The main one of these ideas being humanism, or that the best that a man can be is greater than the idea of theology. The Italians began to spread this idea and it began to grow. The Italians decided that the best way to express and spread the idea of humanism during the Renaissance was through their sculptures and paintings. This can be seen in many works of art from this time period such as the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, The School of Athens by Raphael, and Michelangelo's David.

The Renaissance describes the period of European history from the 14th century to the late 16th century. During this time The Renaissance was only seen as a form of rebirth, it wasn’t until later in time where people viewed the period differently. Some say it was one of the greatest ages of human cultural achievement. Jules Michelet and Jakob Burckhardt, for example, view the period as being characterized by the rise of an individual, scientific inquiry, and geographical exploration, and the growth of secular values (La Renaissance). “Nicola “said that he had personally broken some tablets that had been placed as a decoration in a church not far from Porcia, declaring it was wrong, and that they did not belong there and were...merchandise...and that figures should not be placed in church.”” (The Cheese and the Worms, Page 20) The Renaissance gave birth to many artistic views and skills. Much of the art involved religion in which Ginzburg points out that no one is supposed to worship any images of God. This points to one thing that Menocchio learned from

The Mona Lisa, painted by Leonardo da Vinci around 1503-6, is oil on panel. It is a three quarter portrait of a young, Florentine woman. She is sitting in a chair with her torso twisting around to face the viewer. Her hands are resting on the arm of the chair. Behind the woman in the background is a landscape very characteristic of many Leonardo paintings. The Mona Lisa was painted toward the end of Leonardo’s career. In contrast, the David created by Michelangelo around 1501-4, is a marble sculpture of the biblical hero David. The seventeen foot tall statue depicts a young man standing in contrapposto. Most of his weight is supported with is right leg, while his left leg is relaxed. He holds

The Medici family was the most powerful political family of Florence. They saw themselves as being the reason for Florence’s supremacy and wanted to used Florence’s symbol of David as their own. The Medici were aware of Donatello’s earlier sculpture of David in Florence’s town hall and commissioned Donatello to create them their own sculpture of David. Donatello’s bronze sculpture of David possesses both the relaxed contrapposto and the nude beauty of the Classical period and the style of the Greeks. He was the first Renaissance sculptor to portray nude male figure. “In the Middle Ages, the clergy regarded nude statues as both indecent and idolatrous, and nudity in general appeared only rarely in art”

In the Renaissance period women are almost invariably shown as completely passive and as an object for contemplation. The reclining female nude in the Renaissance raises questions of the male gaze more often than any other artistic stereotype. Female nudes were only an open acknowledgement of not only male desire but also the right males had to express that desire. A woman’s feelings when looking at such images of members of their own gender were never discussed or asked until recently.

Man’s view of man changes during the Renaissance due to a change in the style of art. In Document A, there was a painting from the Middle Ages (Madonna Enthroned Between Two Angels), and a painting from the Renaissance (Mona Lisa). The styles

The view of the nature of man had changed significantly, in the Renaissance, since the time of the Middle Ages. Each man was now unique and completely different from his neighbor. Every man’s personality and personas were special to the individual. Men were composed of different amounts and types of talents. Some were great at science, some art, or others engineering. Man’s view on how they wanted to live their lives was also completely opposite then their fellow man. Overall, the nature of man became that of being their own human being and not be exactly the same as the person next

During the Middle Ages, the church commissioned most of the art being produced which limited the subject matter and censorship. Now, however, the Medici were the chief patrons using art as a political declaration rather than a religious idea. Commissioned by the Medici, Donatello’s David was the first free-standing nude sculpture completed since antiquity (Gilmore 83). The work symbolized the shift of the arts from the church to the political forum. As art and learning thrived, morals and grace declined in the eyes of the church. Many religious traditionalist viewed Florence as an evil and godless city. These fundamentalists eagerly waited for a great reformed to restore Florence to a religious city.

The character of David has been the inspiration for many works of art throughout history. The young David, armed with only a sling, defeated the gigantic warrior, Goliath, and became the hero of the human people. This story became very popular during the Italian Renaissance, the period of 14th-16th centuries. During the Italian Renaissance, Florence was under constant change and turmoil however David remained the people with faith for the people. Many other artists have expressed their own depictions of the young boy but two stand out among all. Donatello and Michelangelo both created masterpieces on the biblical subject although the approaches of each artist were completely different in some ways this caused unique reactions.

The pieces of art I will be comparing and contrasting are the three statues of David, by Donatello (Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi), Michelangelo (Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni), and Bernini (Gian Lorenzo Bernini). The statues are modeled after the biblical David, who was destined to become the second king of Israel. Also most famously known as the slayer of the Philistine giant Goliath with a stone and a sling. The sculptures are all based on the same biblical hero, but differ from one another. Each David is unique in its own certain way.

Michelangelo and Donatello were the most respected and inspiring artists of their time. Michelangelo of the High Renaissance and Donatello of the Early Renaissance both hailed from Italy. Both tell the biblical story of David versus Goliath, as told in I Samuel 17:28-51, in their sculptures "David." David was a Shepherd boy who killed the giant Goliath with nothing but a slingshot in his hands. Michelangelo displays David before the battle while Donatello shows David after the battle with Goliath. Michelangelo and Donatello were two of four famous artists who have created a statue depicting their image of David; Bernini and Andrea del Verrocchio were the others,

In the Renaissance everywhere you went there would be inspiration of beauty, however not everyone's definition of beauty is the same. Donatello and Michelangelo show their depiction of the same man from biblical times each showing their own translation of beauty in their statues noticeably inspired by their era. Their time periods were not very far apart Beauty interpreted by two different, yet fascinating, artists.

In her book Renaissance Women, Gaia Servadio studies the roles that women have been played throughout art history and argues that it is females who drive the Renaissance to “mature and advance.” Although it is hard to prove whether female is the impetus behind the Renaissance movement, we are convinced that they play a significant role in it. Furthermore, the subject matter of women and the way they are depicted are constantly evolving in response to the flow of artistic movements. In fact, we can see how the image of women changes and how that closely relates to the contemporary social environment by examining the artworks that depict females from the Renaissance and beyond. By inspecting the women on prints from the Renaissance and Baroque

The new evaluation of the individual’s worth and the new conception of the individual’s relation to nature, which were to become the central motifs of the Renaissance, can be seen graphically in the paintings of artists like Piero della Francesca, Donatello, and Michelangelo. The individuals in their portraits and sculptures were the center of attention and were portrayed realistically, thereby glorifying man. More specifically, Michelangelo’s statue of David portrays man’s power and beauty (David, Spielvogel, 324). Linguists and philosophers also expressed this idolization of man. Pico della Mirandola, author of the “Oration on the Dignity of Man,” wrote that God addressed man saying, “‘Though shalt have the power to degenerate into the lower forms of life, which are brutish. Thou shalt have the power, out of thy soul’s judgment, to be reborn into the higher forms, which are divine’” (Mirandola, 411). Therefore, man’s understanding of his potential as an individual led to an increased emphasis on humanism in all aspects of Renaissance society.