Reminiscing

I am getting ready for graduation on Thursday.  One of the things I am currently working on is decorating my cap; might be silly but I want it to reflect my degree and favorite works of art.  Therefore, I am working to collect images of my favorite art pieces and then put them on my cap.  One of my all time favorite sculptures is The David by Michelangelo.  I realized I had written a paper on this piece a couple semesters back for my Renaissance art class right after I got back from 3 weeks in Italy.  Thought I would post it....enjoy!

David, Michelangelo, 1501-1504

      The David, sculpted by Michelangelo Buonarroti in Florence, Italy from 1501-4 is a marble sculpture that stands 4.34 m (14.24 ft) high including the base.  This sculpture is housed in the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence and is the centerpiece of their collection.  It is placed in a half rotunda with a long hallway of his other, non completed works lining the way and leading to what is often considered Michelangelo’s greatest masterpiece along with his Pieta in Rome. 
    The statue known as David is a large, male nude sculpted in the style of the ancient Greeks and Romans.  He has been placed in the contraposto pose with his left hand resting on his shoulder.  The placement of his hands and position of his body provides a contrast in how his body is open and closed within the whole.  This provides grace and harmony within the piece that is very reminiscent of classical sculpture but with changes that make it distinctly Michelangelo.     
      Michelangelo had grown up and been taught in the court of Lorenzo de Medici and was influenced by his tastes as well as the preferences of his teachers Ghirlandaio and Bertoldo di Gionvanni.  These artists taught him about sculpture, painting, and drawing and were large influences in his life.  Documents, including his letters, have shown that although Michelangelo did in fact see first hand many of the great ancient sculptures during his stays in Rome, he was not as impressed by them as other Renaissance artists of the time.  Rather, he viewed his work in sculpture as a competition with the ancient artisans and was always looking for ways to better what they had created.  This can be seen most elegantly in his sculpture The David.
    The David is a larger than life sculpture standing over fourteen feet tall.  The proportions of his body have been slightly altered from the “norm.”  His hands and feet are bigger than those of a regular human, his torso is longer, and his head is slightly out of proportion from the rest of his body.  This may be partly due to the fact that when Michelangelo carved the figure, it was meant to be placed on top of a building and thus Michelangelo carved the statue in order to have it appear normal when gazing up at it.
    Another oddity within the sculpture is that Michelangelo carved the two sides of the body differently.  “The right-hand side of the statue is smooth and composed while the left-side, from the outstretched foot all the way up to the disheveled hair, is openly active and dynamic. To achieve this effect, Michelangelo deliberately made body parts disproportionate.” 
    The right hand has been carved slightly larger than the left which places emphasis on the stone within the clenched hand.  Although Michelangelo used these techniques in the carving of The David, he did it so masterfully that an average viewer gazing at the sculpture takes no notice of these irregularities as they are struck with wonder at the mastery of the artist. 
    The symbolic and religious meaning in David can be seen in how his right hand has been carved in an exaggerated manner.  According to Hibbard, “the hand probably illustrates the appellation manu fortis that was commonly applied to David in the Middle Ages: strong of hand.”  While his torso is clearly sculpted in the traditional ancient manner of the Greeks and Romans due to the musculature and method of portraying the male nude; his head and neck with the tension visible in his twisted neck are entirely new and of Michelangelo’s design.  This demonstrates Michelangelo’s knowledge and respect for the practices of antiquity but also his attempt to be better than they had been.
    The David is a very typical example of what would become the famous muscular style of Michelangelo.  The figure is not a young, slender youth such as was portrayed by Donatello in his bronze David, but rather a young man in his prime who worked hard in the fields and wilderness and was not afraid of anyone or anything.
    David holds the sling ready as well as a rock in his right hand and looks off into the distance as though he is sizing up his opponent and determining how best to take him down.  As he is carved in marble, he has a supporting element depicted as a tree trunk on the right side of his body in the form of a tree trunk which steadies his form. 
       A reason for the strange dimensions as well as the nature of the carving; not being completely full and in the round, may be attributed to the block of marble Michelangelo was given to work with.  Therefore, due to the condition of the marble and already somewhat pre-determined lines he had to work with, Michelangelo had to create the figure much more flat than was traditionally done.  This meant that the back of the David is almost all completely flat whereas the front has been given more careful detail and attention due to the intention of it being viewed from the front rather than in the round.  Also, the quality of the marble may not have been quite as good as the famed Carrera marble Michelangelo used almost exclusively later in his career.  There has been some debate about this and whether it accounts for the poor maintaining of the sculpture through the centuries.  
    Michelangelo was given this commission after at least two other artists including Agostino di Duccio and Antonio Rossellino had worked with the marble block and been released from contract or dismissed.  Not much is known about why they were released from the project other than their initial work of roughing out the block had supposedly ruined it.  Unlike so many other artists, Michelangelo could “see” the finished sculpture within a piece of marble and believed that his role was to “free it from the stone and reveal it to the world.
    Michelangelo was given the commission for the carving of The David on August 16, 1501 and started work on the statue in early September.  According to his letters, he was given two years to complete the sculpture and would receive a salary of six gold florins every month.  He managed to complete it within the required time in spite of receiving other commissions which clamored for his attention including a bronze statue of David which has been lost.   
    The block of marble Michelangelo was given to work with had been badly damaged and weathered due to the work of the two previous artists as they attempted to rough out the general figure and then having been left exposed to the elements for many years.  This would have caused other artists to balk at the commission and often add pieces of marble in order to create the required piece.  Michelangelo felt that this was not necessary and declared that he would be able to carve the statue from that one block without the addition of any other stone. 
    Due to the stresses the stone had already undergone with the previous carvings and weathering as well as the compositional details Michelangelo chose to incorporate, the David has cracks along its base, legs, and tree trunk support feature.  These have been examined and documented throughout the centuries and most recently in 2005 in a journal article in the Journal of Archeological Science where they found that the cracks have been growing steadily and that it is partially due to how Michelangelo created the center of gravity within the piece in relation to the center of gravity of the base.  Those two features are off enough that they are creating stress on the sculpture and in time may result in collapse.
    The David has also been the victim of violence throughout the centuries.  It was first attacked as it was being transported to its final destination on May 14, 1504 when citizens threw stones at in protest for unknown reasons.  Also, during a riot in Florence in 1527 projectiles were thrown towards the Palazzo della Signora, hit the David, and caused the break in its left arm into three different pieces which then had to be repaired. 
    This statue is one of the most powerful and graceful statues to come out of the High Renaissance in Italy.  The David was commissioned by the directors of the Duomo and the Wool Guild (Arte della Lana) to complete the sculptural ornamentation of Florence Cathedral.  Even though the  The Florentines viewed themselves as David and the enemy as Goliath as in the Biblical tale.  Although initially intended to ornament the cathedral in Florence, after the military victory over the city of Pisa, it was decided that it would stand in a more prominent place where it would serve as a reminder of the might of Florence to all citizens.
    The David was at first meant to be elevated up off the ground and stand as a guardian and watchman for the city of Florence.  However, when the statue was completed and revealed, the public loved it so much that they kept it on the ground outside the town hall.  There was much debate on whether to have this sculpture remain a purely religious object or if it could also be utilized for political purposes by the government as propaganda against the Medici, the Pisans, and other overlords who sought to control Florence.
    Before the public reveal of the sculpture, there was a meeting of artists in Florence where such as da Vinci, Cosimo Rosselli, Sandro Botticelli, Giuliano da Sangallo, and others to decide where this magnificent sculpture was to be placed.  Never before had there been a meeting of artists who decided where and how art should be displayed.  This meeting demonstrates how far artists have risen from mere skilled laborers to revered artists, thinkers, and members of society.  This is exactly what da Vinci and other Renaissance artists worked so hard to achieve. 
    Although it is not one of his earliest works, it is still early in his career; some might say at the height due to the detail and mastery needed to carve the marble provided into a suitable sculpture.  By this time, he had already completed the Rome Pieta and had various other sculptures to his credit.  However, he was still young; in his early twenties and thus was not jaded to the world as many older artists were and much like he would become later in life.  
    To have a commission of this magnitude be given to such a young artist who despite being well known in Bologna and Rome, had yet to leave an impact on the artistic world of Florence is amazing.  Michelangelo at the time of the carving of David was in his prime; he had completed his artistic studies, created a few pieces which helped introduce him as an artist, and now was able to sculpt a piece which would stand as a testament to his skill and genius for years.      
    Michelangelo has been called many things and is known for many different works of art, each amazing in its own way.  However, the David is special because he gives us a taste of what was to come for Michelangelo in terms of style and content.  He is unlike other Renaissance artists in that his figures are always monumental and masculine in tone.  We are able to see hints of the style he would utilize when creating one of his most famous masterpieces; The Sistine Ceiling.  However, at the root of it all, is this famous sculpture known as the David and seen as the epitome of Renaissance art and sensibilities.

Pieta, Michelangelo, 1499, marble

David, Donatello, 1432, bronze

Sistine Chapel Ceiling, Michelangelo, c. 1508-1512, fresco

  Bibliography
Anthony Hughes and Caroline Elam. "Michelangelo." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online.         Oxford University Press, accessed April 21, 2014, http://www.oxfordartonline.com.mcc1.library.csulb.edu/subscriber/article/grove/art/T057716pg2           
Attanasio, Donato, Rosario Platania, and Paolo Rocchi. 2005. “The Marble of the David of         Michelangelo: A Multi-method Analysis of Provenance.” Journal of Archaeological         Science. 32, no. 9: 1369-1377.

Beck, James, and Michelangelo Buonarroti. 1999. Three Worlds of Michelangelo. New York:         W.W. Norton.

Borri, A, and A Grazini. 2006. “Diagnostic Analysis Of the Lesions and Stability Of             Michelangelo's David.” Journal of Cultural Heritage. 7, no. 4: 273-285.

Buonarroti, Michelangelo, and Robert Walter Carden. 1913. Michelangelo : A Record of His Life     as Told in His Own Letters and Papers. London: Constable & Co. ltd.

Buonarroti, Michelangelo, and Mario Salmi. 1966. The Complete Work of Michelangelo.             London: Madcdonald.

Brandes, Georg Morris Cohen. 1963. Michelangelo: His Life, His Times, His Era. New York:         Ungar,        

Clements, Robert John. 1961. Michelangelo's Theory of Art. [New York]: New York University         Press.

Hibbard, Howard. 1985. Michelangelo. Cambridge ; Philadelphia: Harper & Row.

Shaikh, Saad, and James Leonard-Amodeo. 2005. “The Deviating Eyes of Michelangelo's         David.” Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 98, no. 2: 75-76.