DAVID IN THE BIBLE
David is the most complex and contradictory figure in the Bible, he is the King of Israel, wise lawmaker, a general and a prophet. But among the many possible aspects of his personality, only one seems to have interested the Florentine artists of the Renaissance. David was the adolescent hero who met the Giant Goliath in battle and defeated him with just a stone and a slingshot. In the Bible the decisive battle between the army of Israel and the forces of the Philistines is described in the first book of Samuel. The terrifying Giant Goliath challenges the Jewish to combat and says to his enemies to choose a man, so brave to fight against him. If he prevails “ we will be your servants”, he says. A young shepherd with no experience was chosen to face the Philistine army. One fact that captures the attention is that is the great contrast between the two combatants. Goliath is a professional soldier, armed and terrifying, he seems invincible while David is a teenager, delicate and unarmed. He was able to kill the giant only with a stone and a sling thanks to the presence and the help of God. David is an instrument in his hands, he is invincible and he defends and protect his people from tyranny.
DAVID IN THE RENAISSANCE FLORENCE
The biblical story told by Samuel became very popular in Florence during the Renaissance and the figure of David was transformed into a political allegory of the republican liberty for the Florentines. The city was very wealthy, hardworking people, skilled artisans, families of bankers, learned patrons had contributed to transform Florence not only into one of the most powerful Republics in the peninsula, but also into the capital of Art and Culture. No wonder that it was surrounded by powerful enemies and the city institutions were continually under threat.
The freedom of the Republic of Florence was fragile but its citizens intended to defend its asset with force and intelligence, and it couldn’t be a better symbol of their determination than David overcoming Goliath. Many Florentine artists have ventured into the representation of victorious David, but three of them are the ones that Michelangelo was familiar with and that he was inspired when he undertook the realization of his renowned masterwork.
It’s possible to see them in the Bargello National Museum in Florence. The first and oldest is the marble sculpture by Donatello, documented from 1416. The young hero is represented after the victory with the decapitated head of the Giant at his feet. More famous is the other Donatello’s David, cast in bronze and dating back to 1435, it was commissioned by the Medici family to be placed at the center of the courtyard of their Palace. It is considered to be the first freestanding nude male sculpture made since antiquity. David is a boy, in one hand he holds the rock and in the other the sword symbol of his triumph and under his left food is the head of Goliath.
The last David of the three in the Museo Nazionale del Bargello is the one by Andrea del Verrocchio, a masterpiece of unique quality. A recent restoration brought out traces of gold in the hair and the garment of the young hero. As Donatello, also Verrocchio represented his David after the victory with the head of Giant Goliath on the ground. The statue was cast in the 1470s when Leonardo da Vinci was training as an apprentice in the workshop of Andrea, and it seems that the master modeled the statue after his pupil Leonardo.
MICHELANGELO’S DAVID
Michelangelo’s statue of David was commissioned by the Vestry Board of the Duomo of Florence at the beginning of the 16th century when the freedom of the Florentines seemed to be in serious danger. The Medici, temporarily exiled from the city, were plotting to regain power and the “giant” of Michelangelo was erected in front of Palazzo Vecchio, the most representative place of political authority as the symbol of Republican freedom.
Michelangelo represented the biblical hero differently as usual, not as delicate adolescent but as a young man, in the moment of concentration before the action, he actually holds the stone in his right hand and the slingshot on the shoulder looking towards the Giant with calm and self-confidence.
The millions of visitors of the Accademia Gallery in Florence, admiring the perfection of forms, the classical beauty and the excellent description of anatomy can be aware of the universal message of dignity, justice and liberty that Michelangelo’s David embodies.
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