What is the meaning of the David sculpture by Donatello?

As for David’s youthfulness, Donatello has gone back to the early life of the biblical David to depict him, rather than to his later life as a king. It seems that Donatello is trying to associate David’s youth with an innocent and virtuous life.

What type of sculpture is Donatello David?

Sculpture
David/Forms

How much does David by Donatello weigh?

1. Michelangelo’s David is massive at 17 feet tall and more than 12,000 pounds, yet it is sculpted from a single block of white marble. 2. The block of marble that Michelangelo used to carve “David” had been worked on more than 50 years earlier by Donatello.

Where is the statue of David by Donatello?

Bargello National Museum
David/Locations

Donatello’s David, or Mercury,is a bronze sculpture kept in the Bargello Museum in Florence and was sculpted by the artist around 1440.

Who paid for Donatello’s David?

Cosimo de’ Medici
Financed by Cosimo de’ Medici, Donatello’s David, was the first freestanding nude male sculpture since antiquity. He worked with stone, bronze, wood, clay, stucco, and wax, and had several assistants, with four perhaps being a typical number.

What was the most unique aspect of Donatello’s David?

Donatello’s David was incredibly innovative when it was produced, as it was the first known free-standing nude statue created since antiquity and the first unsupported standing work in bronze that was cast during the Renaissance.

Why is Donatello’s David controversial?

The bronze statue was controversial during the Renaissance and thereafter due to the sexual connotations some experts took note of, such as the wing from the giant’s helmet which rests along the length of David’s leg.

What is the difference between Michelangelo’s David and Donatello’s David?

Differences: Donatello used bronze; Michelangelo used marble. Donatello’s sculpture is 5 feet tall; Michelangelo’s is 17 feet tall. Donatello’s David depicts the moment after victory with David’s foot on Goliath’s head; Michelangelo’s David portrays the moment before the battle.

Why is the statue of David so famous?

What is significant about Michelangelo’s David?

Michelangelo’s David has become one of the most recognized works of Renaissance sculpture; a symbol of strength and youthful beauty. The colossal size of the statue alone impressed Michelangelo’s contemporaries. It is possible that the David was conceived as a political statue before Michelangelo began to work on it.

Did Michelangelo sculpt David?

Oft-cited as the world’s most beautiful —and chiseled—man (and undoubtedly one of its most recognizable sculptures), David was crafted from 1501-1504, when Michelangelo was just 26 years old. Though Michelangelo’s genius as a sculptor had already been proven two years earlier when he completed the Pietà for St.

Why is Michelangelo’s David so famous?

How big is the sculpture of David by Donatello?

This small but exquisite bronze is one of Donatello’s most famous works. It is a five foot, freestanding bronze sculpture of David, from the classic story David and Goliath.

Who was the patron saint of Donatello’s sculpture?

Donatello was commissioned by the swordmakers’ and armorers’ guild to carve this sculpture of their patron saint, St. George, for a niche on the exterior of the church of Orsanmichele in Florence.

Why is Donatello holding David’s severed head?

SZ: This intimacy is not simply a result of the nudity, but also of the emotional experience Donatello renders through the face and even the stance of the body—and it’s so unexpected in the telling of the story of David and Goliath! I would expect rather a triumphal victorious figure, maybe holding the sword and the enemy’s severed head aloft…

Why did Donatello do the contrapposto to David?

But the contrapposto is also Donatello’s swagger, the sculptor’s rendering of David offers the most complete expression of this natural stance since antiquity.