High Renaissance

After returning to Rome, Michelangelo heard about a sculpture that two other artists could not complete because of its difficulty. Because of his success with ‘‘La Pieta,’’ Michelangelo decides to take over the job. He created ‘‘David’’ in 1501 and four years later the sculpture was placed outside the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. Michelangelo’s intention was to portray ‘‘David’’as the perfect and ideal man. Michelangelo took three years to sculpt this 17 feet sculpture, and ‘‘David’’ quickly became the pride of Florence.

This piece created by michelangelo was sculpted in 1501 and is made out of marble. The location that was chosen was Accademia Gallery, in Florence, Italy. People think that this sculptor just represents David and Goliath, but there is more to it. The sculptor is not showing david while he is fighting, but mere seconds after victory. Before the Renaissance, if one did not have money, man was looked upon as only a worker. During the Renaissance, man was recreated as a beautiful, rational, and heroic figure. “David” signified a man at his best with the glory and confidence that a man needs to live life to the fullest. Life was hard for most men during this time and Michelangelo showed us that by expressing a deeper meaning in

Another significantly important artist of the Italian renaissance who expresses the ideals of humanism is Michelangelo Buonarroti in his piece "The David". The giant 17-feet tall sculpture, or contrapposto of David initially started by another artist who was biblically intended to represent a young shepherd who defended the city from the Goliath. However, abandoned and later rescued by Michelangelo, the sculpture's message innovated to represent the strength and divinity of the man. "The Renaissance ideals of humanism were expressed in the physical and psychological balance of the piece." (en.wikipedia.org) The art piece of David shows the physical strength of a man somehow by exaggerating some features such as the hands. However, his face shows divinity and dignity of humanity, "Michelangelo captures the human emotions of confidence, determination, and hope in the face of David." (en.wikipedia.org) He demonstrates his own view of the human form, "Michelangelo's David seems to encapsulate his dualistic view, that however noble the human body may be, it

The statue of David, completed by Michelangelo in 1504, is an easily recognizable symbol to people not only in Florence, but from all around the world. The David has a special meaning for Florentines, and is a symbol of what the city strives to be; strong, courageous, and youthful. The sculpture tells the tale of the battle between David and Goliath. David, a young boy at the time, was angered at the way Goliath was treating the Israelis and stood up to the giant feat of taking on Goliath. With a simple slingshot and stone, he defeated the angry giant, and became a symbol of liberty. The story shows that anything can be done with the help of God. David is not only the most well-known sculpture in the world, but is housed in one of the

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 city of Florence has gone through many invaders, illnesses and many other deaths not related to the battlefield. They had survived it all they believed that they had God on their side and have always come out on top, much like the biblical story of David in battle against Goliath. This influenced Florence to take on David as their symbol and used it to portray the success of Florence. Many artists have created sculptures portraying works of David. It has been depicting it in so many different manners, that there is at least one surviving example from each major art periods. Although there are many we will only be focusing on two works of David. First is Donatello’s classically inspired youthful boy depiction of David, and the second is Bernini’s heroic warrior.

When thinking of sculptures, one of the first that comes to mind is David. This statue was created of marble between 1501 and 1504 and stands over 14 feet high. David is a symbol that represents strength and anger. The statue had intended political connotations for the ruling of the Medici family. Michelangelo used David as model of "heroic courage" to demonstrate that "spiritual strength can be more effective than arms". Michelangelo insisted that David should stand as a symbol of the republic and act as a warning that Florence shall be governed justly and bravely". This was the first time since antiquity that a large nude statue be exhibited in a public place.

Michelangelo’s creation is his interpretation of the biblical figure of David. “The brave David stands in a tense manner, with one leg relaxed while the other holds its total body weight. Hence, this causes his shoulders and hips to rest at an opposite angle. Moreover, David’s head turns towards his left, and he is carrying a sling at his back. With all these features, many people regard the sculpture as a symbol of youthful beauty and human strength (History).” “Michelangelo’s hero is at rest, in a moment of calm anticipation before confronting Goliath (Sayre, 327).” The lack of movement and straight posture shows balance and clarity within the sculpture, which is why most people would consider this piece of art work ethos. “In contrast, Bernini’s sculpture captures the young hero in the midst of action. David’s body twists in an elaborate spiral, creating dramatic contrasts of light and shadow. His teeth are clenched, and his muscles strain as he prepares to launch the fatal rock (Sayre, 327).” Bernini’s David uses the characteristic of emotion and motion to label his sculpture as pathos. “Bernini’s David uses the space around it – reaching out into the space of

Bernini's David represents the Baroque time shift in art. The shift towards the baroque art period seemed to have a change within the overall narrative of the sculptures. Prior to Bernini’s version of David there existed David’s sculpted by Donatello and Michelangelo. Donatello’s David was sculpted during the time of humanism, where a large influence came from the ancient Greco-Roman culture. The overall emotion of the sculpture is soft and youthful and creates the image of David after he had beaten Goliath. There really is no distinct emotion within David himself in this sculpture. In the high renaissance period Michelangelo sculpted his version of David. This sculpture began to form some energy which was seen in David’s tensed facial expression,

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.

     Donatellos, Verrochio’s, and Michelangelo’s figures compare in the sense that none of them show any physical activity and are shown as prideful as they stand over oppressors. Bernini’s rendition of David is unique in the sense that he creates a more narrative figure instead of one that is poised and more classical in style. Protestants strongly believed that imagery presented in the church could cause people to venerate figures in statues rather than focus all their attention on God during the

The Renaissance was a rebirth of the ideas of ancient Greece and Rome that began in the City States of Italy during the 14th century. The cultural resurgence began a new style of living in Europe after the horrors of the black death, and is seen as the beginning of the culture of the modern world. As Wassace K. Ferguson put in his book The Renaissance, the Italian artists grew tired of the darkness of Medieval Times and began to turn to the brighter times found in the classical ages (Doc 7). The Renaissance served as the evolutionary bridge between the Middle Ages and the 17th century through art, education, and religion by bringing a rebirth of the ancient Greek and Roman classics that would later define the world’s culture, while continuing the underlying beliefs of Medieval Times.

A winter known as Giorgio Vasari, stated that Michelangelo’s e works excelled “all ancient and modern statues, whether Greek or Latin, that have ever existed.” Michelangelo’s work, David, was very atypical in that the statue was unusually large and slender. By the 20th century, Michelangelo’s David had become iconic shorthand for culture with endless reproductions.

His arms are slightly long for his body, and the muscles not as developed as those of a man. His waist is small, and the form of his ribs is sculpted enough to know that he is lacking muscle definition. His stomach seems to pop out a little bit, perhaps suggesting the "baby fat" that he has yet to work off. He has one hand resting limply on his hip, while his other rests on a sword handle. His hair is shoulder length and slightly untamed, while a hat rests slightly tilted atop his head. His head is tilted slightly downward, and a slight upward bend in his lip looks almost like a building smile. One leg is straight, supporting his weight, while the other is propped on the head of the slain Goliath. The bends of his limbs are very natural, and the attention to detail exemplifies Donatello’s understanding of human anatomy. A closer look at the sculpture, however, reveals the details that set it apart from other works of the master.