Early Modern Europe (Module 2)

 

Michelangelo, David, 1501-04, marble, 517 cm high (17 feet) (Galleria dell’Accademia, Florence)

Gian Lorenzo Bernini, David, 1623-24, marble, 170 cm (Galleria Borghese, Rome) (photo: Salvador Fornell CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

The two images above show two different takes on the story of David. Seen from the perspective of two different artists, at two different times in history. The first image being Michelangelo's interpretation of the story of David during the neoclassical time (high renaissance) in the early 1500s whereas the second image is of Gian Lorenzo Bernini's interpretation of the story of David During the era of the Baroque style around 1623 (nearly 120 years later). Although both artists were commissioned by Cardinals to sculpt David, each artists rendition of the biblical scene had very different meanings and portrayed very different messages. 

Michelangelo, a young artist at the time (only 26 years old), was commissioned to sculpt David for the Cathedral in Florence, Italy. He was commissioned following his successful sculpture of the Pieta in Rome. Originally, the sculpture of David was supposed to be placed high above the ground, around 40 feet up on the Cathedral, which explains for the large size of the sculpture. This sculpture carried many different significant meanings with it. It originated with a religious background, but soon after was seen as having political significance too following the fall of the Medici Family and Savonarola, the two tyrants in Florence at the time. This statue depicts David moments prior to battle where he is easily the underdog to his opponent. This does not stop Michelangelo from conveying David in a stoic, contrapposto stance with one leg is straight and the other bent creating a contrast between the upper and lower portions of the figure. By doing this, Michelangelo is able to emphasize David's perfect figure (that of a god), his musculature, his facial expressions, the slight gaze away from where his body is facing, ultimately idealizing the human body. This posture and facial expression allowed Michelangelo to capture David calmly taking his first glance at his opponent prior to the battle with his sling in hand.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini, much like Michelangelo, was a young artist also in his 20s. Bernini sculpted his version of David as well as many other sculptures for Cardinal Borghese. In Bernini's sculpture of David he is capturing the of the battle with Goliath, rather than the moment prior to the battle as Michelangelo had. The Baroque art style captured movement and emotion. Bernini does a spectacular job of capturing both of these elements. His sculpture looks as if at any moment in time the tension in David's body could be released and the stone in the sling would be sent flying. Bernini also capture every bit of emotion that he could in this piece. One can visually see the emotion in David's face and the concentration in his eyes. This element draws the viewers in and allows them to feel what David was feeling at this moment in time during his battle with Goliath.

Both of these statues capture very different moments in time surrounding the battle between David and Goliath. Although both of these sculptures represent the same biblical event, they were both created with two very different styles and two different end goals in mind. Michelangelo's David began with biblical significance then became political (but was sculpted for the pleasure of the common people), whereas Bernini's sculpture of David was commissioned to be a part of Cardinal Borghese's vast collection of art within his villa (a piece sculpted for the pleasure of only those who entered the Cardinal's villa). 

Sources:

Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker, "Gian Lorenzo Bernini, David," in Smarthistory, July 12, 2015, accessed January 30, 2021, https://smarthistory.org/bernini-david-2/.

Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris, "Michelangelo, David," in Smarthistory, December 6, 2020, accessed January 30, 2021, https://smarthistory.org/michelangelo-david/.