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| David, Donatello, 1440s |
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| David, Michelangelo, 1501-1504 |
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Consider the following as topics for discussion and investigation. How are the two figures similar or different? How does each relate to
the Biblical story? In what ways do they look back to Greek or Roman figures? (Note: You don't have address all of these questions).
Donatello’s David is easily identified with the Biblical story. Here we have the figure David standing over the decapitated head and helmet of some heavily bearded man. David’s left foot/leg rests on top of his head, a long sword in his right hand resting down near the head. The head is most likely the Philistine Goliath, who fits the Biblical stories description: “He [Goliath] had a bronze helmet on his head…they all fled from him in great fear.” Goliath’s abundant facial hair may be a factor to make him look more terrifying, defiant and animalistic.
ReplyDeleteDavid is pictured hear very young and boyish. His arm, chest and leg muscles are not very well defined. His face in young and round, with a long ehad of hair ciming down to his shoulder.s He looks innocent (as if he did not use an extreme amount of physical energy or force to kill Goliath) as he stands over the decapitated head. He is naked except for his intricately designed boots and a hat, like a sun hat with a leaf like plant wrapped around the hat.
“I will give the carcasses if the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals…”
Dantellos may have placed Goliath’s head on the ground below David to illistrate this quote and the power David has over whomever he wishes to rule. The head is on the ground and therefore excessible to rodents and animals who wish to feed of the flesh of the head.
Michaelangelo’s David is MUCH different from Dontello’s. Here, David is depicted as muscular and strong, with defined arms and chest muscles. Because of his more defined physical figure, he looks much older then Dontello’s David. A similar contraposto position is seen here again, except the this David is not standing over a decapited head or holding a sword. David looks to his left, with his left arm contracted, so that his hand holding a sling, or long bag over his left shoulder. David is completed nude, with short curly hair. His neck muscles and tendons in his neck are VERY detailed.
Im not sure what part of the story Michaelangelo is trying to illustrate here.
Both images involve a stoic facial expression, as we have seen in some Roman structure. They do portray facial emotion or drama, but action or impending action.
I agree with turner in that the Donatello has a lot of things that tie it to the bible story. I think one of the biggest differences is that Donatello David has a hat a sword and a giant head. The props immediately bring to mind what the story is, or let you know there is a story. With Michelangelo's David looks more like a classical greek sculpture because of the idealized figure and lack of emotional content. compared to Michelangelo's David Donatello's looks very emotional, like a hellenistic sculpture. I also agree with turner about the Donatello David is younger and more boyish. This is more accurate to the biblical story.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Grete and Turner, on how it relates to the bible story. Looking at the two sculptures, they are very different stylistically. I think it is interesting in how the two artists imagined David. Both Donatello's and Michelangelo's interpretation of David seems to be from the biblical story, but they are very different in terms of the style and the materials that have been used. Donatello used bronze as the main medium for his sculpture whereas Michelangelo used marble as his sculpture. Also Donatello's version of David seems to be more stylized because of the extremely tilted posture and the skinny arms and legs also the way that the figure is standing on top of another figure shows what David is known for.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Turner and Grete. Donatello's David is related to the bible story more than Michelangelo’s David. There are lots of differences between them.
ReplyDeleteDonatello's David is not totally naked. He wears hat and boots. Hats and boots have exquisite details. Michelangelo’s David, however, is naked. And there are no accessories.
Michelangelo’s David face is turned to the left side. His left hand holds an object. In contrast, David by Donatello looks down and his head drops slightly to down. Then, he holds sword on his right hand.
The biggest difference is that Donatello's David has feminine body features. His body silhouette is smooth; it makes him look graceful. On the other hand, Michelangelo’s David has well-defined muscles. When we look at his right hand, he bends some of his fingers; back of his hand shows realistic veins and bone structure. These make his body looks hard and stiff compared to Donatello's David.
There are not many similarities that I can find between them. One of the conspicuous similarities is that both of them bend their left legs. Also, both of them holds an object with their left hand.
I would like to disagree with Grete on how Dontello's David looks emotional....neither David, nor the Goliat have a facial expression.....BUT...the is a persence of life and death (morality)...which is in itself drama (or action, since David has cut the head of Goliath)...in this instance it is hellenistic, but not for emotional reasons..
ReplyDelete...I would also like to point out how Jiyoon mentioned how Donatello used bronze and Michaelangelo used marble....was there a specific reasoning to using these materials? Bronze is mentioned in the Biblical story in reference to Goliath's garments....so Donatello's reasoning for using bronze is correct...but why would Michaelangelo use stone? Perhaps the time period didn't allow bronze work...but what if that is not the case?
Things are off to a good start here. Several comments have described Donatello's David as being more related to the text. I'd like to invite people to describe HOW each piece is related to the text -- not just how much each is related. Turner suggested at least one textual link in his first post. Can you point to a moment in the text that each statue captures? If so, how did each artist capture this moment? Why choose this moment?
ReplyDeleteI think what both Turner's and Grete's had said are right. I agree that Donatello's David has more story and context in the sculpture itself while Michelangelo's David is just a fine sculpture of David without any background information. I do see that Michelangelo's David is similar to those sculptures from classical Greek period, since it is first naked and seems like it is made of marble. However, they are standing in similar postures in their legs. Both of them are shifted to their right.
ReplyDeleteyou are right Turnus, I don't think I meant Donatello's david has more emotion, I meant it creates more emotion in the viewer because of the weird combination of girlish nude boy in boots and hat etc.
ReplyDeleteI think that Donatello's David is a more "artistic" approach to the character of David than Michelangelo's. I'm not saying that one is a greater or "better" form of art than the other, but going off of what Grete has just said, with the idea of "provoking", Donatello's David definately has more obscurity to it. Although both scupltures are nude, Donatello's is much more provocative in my opinion. His stance is very sassy and flamboyant. There is nothing shy or meek about this depiction of David. Michelangelo's David however is more conservative, and is more a depiction of the human form than anything else. My attention when looking at Michelangelo's David is brought to the pretty realistic depiction of the human body, and an appreciation for his skill, whereas when I look at Donatello's David, I focus more on who David was as a person and what his attitude and personality was like.
ReplyDeleteMy question is why does Donatello's David look like a young boy and Michelangelo's David look almost adult esc. In the story he's described as young "As soon as David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with David still holding the Philistine’s head.“Whose son are you, young man?”. Also Michelangelo's David is riped in comparison to Donatello's David, definitely in my opinion not the body type I would have pictured.
ReplyDeleteTo go off of what Andrew said, it really depends on how you view the word "young". Some consider people in their late 20's to be young. I feel like that is more of a subjective standpoint. I feel like the main difference between these two pieces are that Donatello's David is more of a story piece rather than of David himself and Michelangelo's David is more about David alone and how Michelangelo depicts how he thinks David would have looked. One question I have is, does anyone know what Michelangelo's David is holding? I ask this, because depending on what he's holding Michelangelo could be hinting at some detail of the Biblical story.
ReplyDeleteTo follow up Andrew's question, I think that each artist simply highlighted different aspects of the story through their sculptures. Donatello emphasizes the idea that David was a young person who defeated someone older and bigger, and maybe that itself is what he wanted to depict. Michelangelo's David displays the masculine quality of the depiction of David in the story. It say's that he is young, but it does not say that he was weak, and that it was a miracle that he defeated Goliath. He explains to Saul that he saved his sheep from a lion and a bear and killed them both, so I think that each sculpture is true to the story in different ways.
ReplyDeleteyea but young at the time when these pieces were created was like 14, age twenty you were almost middle aged.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sangeun and Ryan that 'Donatello's David is more of a story piece rather than of David himself and Michelangelo's David is more about David alone.' I think Donatello's David is close to an illustration that depicts a moment of the biblical story. The size and the 'young' appearance of Daivd seems very factual based on the biblical story, and the sculpture itself is a scene derived from the story. On the other hand, Michelangelo's David is closer to a portrait, or a fine art sculpture that depicts David's inner characteristic. It does not depict a certain story in Bible, but it only depicts David's appearance refering to the biblical story.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Cacia in that Donatello emphasized the idea that David was a young man while Michelangelo focused on the idea that David was strong enough to defeat someone who's bigger than him. Two artists had interpreted the biblical story quite differently that different results came out. Both artists were truthful to the story. Perhaps to settle the problem here, they could have combined both ideas by depicting David's face very young like no wrinkles and having baby fat on his cheeks, but making his body muscular and mature like an adult.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ryan and Eun Gee that Donatello's David is more of a story piece. As what Eun Gee mentioned, Donatello's David depicts a moment of the bibilical story and Michelangelo's David depicts David's inner characteristic. Even though Michelangelo's David does not depict exact lines that describe about appearance of David, I do think that Michelangelo's David depicts brave and power that are showed in the bibilical story because when I read the moment that David killed the Philistine with a sling and a stone, I can feel David's power over the philistine who was physically better than him. Thus, this reminds me that there is possibility that Michelangelo interpreted the bibilical story in different way and he depicted David as he looks adult and has muscular body to show his brave and power.
ReplyDeleteSo, from my understanding I think people are agreeing that Donatello's version of David is more relevant to the bible. And from what Minju was saying in the previous comment, it seems that Michelangelo tried to show the braveness and the power that David has. If this is true, why do you think Michelangelo decide to make his sculpture the way that he did? Since Donatello's sculpture was made earlier than Michelangelo’s he could have represented some of the features that we were talking about into his own work. I think there could be more to Michelangelo’s sculpture just like Donatello's. Does this make sense?
ReplyDelete"Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine."
ReplyDeleteI agree with Minju's comment on how Michaelangelo's representation of David. Above is the direct quote from the text. Michaelangleo chose this moment of the story to depict in a stone sculpture. Because the stones in the sling is a deadly weapon, it is easy to see how David was depicted strong and muscular, as if he is a master at this weapon and can operate it well.
BUT.....Why would he place the stone sling BEHIND David? Why not in mid air, or out where every one can see...Why not David using the stone sling? Would that not have been a more impressive sculpture?
Thinking about the questions that Turner raised above, I guess Donatello didn't make David to be holding the stone sling high up in the air or show David is actually using the stone sling because he didn't want to emphasize the sling. If the sling was up in the air, then viewers would focus on the sling more than the figure itself. They would try to give more meanings to the sling instead of David. Also Donatello could have wanted to make David more calm and peaceful figure as if what he has done, killing Goliath, is nothing.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sang Eun,I think that because the statue is called 'David', Donatello AND Michaelangelo were only trying to depict the character David more than the story itself, and maybe why David looks so different in each of their sculptures. Each of the artists with their different experiences and different mindsets may have just interpreted David's character in different ways. I'm sure if one of us just read the story and decided to do a sculpture or illustration of David from only reading the story, it would look much different from theirs as well.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sangeun's idea that Donatello's sculpture is focused on depicting David as a calm and peaceful figure with the evidence of sling's position. On the other hand, since Michaelangelo's David has more muscular body and was placed in a certain space, I think Michaelangelo's sculpture was more focused on depicting braveness of David.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Cacia. Depicting illustration from text can be totally different depends on who describes the story. It is understandable how different results came out from the same text. From looking at Donatello's David, David has feminine body structure than muscular. Those following texts from bible helps me understand why would Donatello describe David this way.
ReplyDeleteA champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span (over nine feet tall).
Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”
Those texts imply that David is young (He is the youngest among his brothers.) and it can be guessed that David does not have as much fighting experience as Goliath according to what Saul says. Also, Goliath is a gigantic man. It seems disadvantageous situation for David. That's why Donatello described David as a little boy figure to show David did not have good physical condition to win. However, Donatello put expression of confidence to David to show that David won Goliath eventually.
From Michelangelo's David, Michelangelo seems to put more focus on victory of winning than illustrating the story. Michelangelo's David looks much more muscular than Donatello's David and it seems more reasonable for Michelangelo's David to win Goliath, such as more 'hero' looking than the other David. If I look at the bible texts, the atmosphere I feel from text is that David is a just a ordinary boy than a hero guy.
This is why David from both artists sound make sense although they look opposite.
Yes agree with skylar, both capture the aspects of youth portrayed in a beautiful way while keeping the over all moral of the story intact. The main idea of small concurring the weak is apparent, and in the end I think that's all theses artist were trying to get across. And we also have to realize that different moments of the story can have different imagery depending on how you look at it.
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ReplyDeleteHye-jin
ReplyDeleteI agree with Grete that related to the bible story. It is true that those two sculptures are very different stylistically. It is good to how the artists mentions David. 'David was strong enough to defeat someone who's bigger than him.' This sentences from Sang Eun and I think it is true fact that those two artist focus on the idea. David is a young guy that he had difficult situation to fought with Goliath. Goliath is a very huge and gigantic man. In that figure I can see two brave young men smile. From the two figures I can tell what the artists try to tell a story. There are emotional feelings from the figure's angle and way they are standing. Especially Donatello's sculpture is more like slim and calm position. Since Michalangel's sculpture was more focus on the braveness and placed of muscular body shape.