Michelangelo’s David is a large sculpture. He’s close to 17 feet tall. Since 1873, David has stood on a large pedestal at the Accademia Gallery in Florence. The pedestal makes him seem even taller than his 17 feet. It is strange, really, that David should be so tall. As everybody knows, Goliath was the giant, not David. David was more or less a little guy. He was a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance, as the Book of Samuel tells us. David manages to kill the giant Philistine warrior Goliath by hitting him in the head with a stone. Then David takes the giant’s sword and chops his head off. Saul, king of the Jews at the time, wonders, “Who is this kid?” That’s the biblical story of David and Goliath.
Michelangelo chose to make David — the giant-killer — into a giant himself. Mostly this has to do with accidents of history and dumb luck. There was a huge piece of marble lying around Florence in the 15th century. A couple of sculptors had tried to make a statue of it. But the block was tricky to work with, so tall and thin. No artist was yet up to the task. In 1501, Michelangelo, 26 years old at the time, said he could do the job. He promised to bring David out of the marble.
David was a special figure for Florentines. This was Italy during the Renaissance: a collection of city-states and principalities usually at war with one another. This was a time of warrior popes and family feuds that killed hundreds. The people of Florence wanted to see themselves in David. Florence was the little city that could stand up to all the others. Plus, Florence had the powerful banking family, the Medici, to deal with. The Medici were always threatening to dominate Florence, economically and politically. In the late 15th century, the city kicked the Medici out of Florence. Defying the Medici was another David-like act. Problem was, the Medici had already commissioned a sculpture of David. That’s the famous statue by Donatello. With the ousting of the Medici, the people of Florence wanted to commission their own David. They wanted to take back the symbol for themselves.
So, Michelangelo solved two problems at once. He solved the technical problem of making a giant sculpture out of a giant block of marble. And he solved the problem of political symbols by creating a statue so overwhelming to behold that David would forever be associated with the Republic of Florence. The irony is that Michelangelo had learned to sculpt under the patronage of the Medici family, but his most famous work was a repudiation of their claims over the city.
Spectacular as David’s body is in Michelangelo’s sculpture, I think you have to see the body as basically a pillar. Because the block of marble that Michelangelo was working with was tall and thin, Michelangelo had to make a tall, thin David. Michelangelo did his best to make the figure supple, tense with motion. He gave David’s hip a little twist and had him stand in a classic contrapposto, the majority of his weight on the right leg. But in the end, David’s body conveys a tremendous sense of pillar-like verticality. The pillar of David’s body holds up an enormous head. David’s body is very much for his head. You don’t notice this so much if you look at the sculpture straight on. Standing right in front of his torso, David’s head is turned to the left and his facial features look almost benign. But if you move to the side and look at David from his left, the face really comes alive. David is fierce, even slightly crazed.
David looks out, presumably at the approaching Goliath. His body is loose, but ready to move. He sees what he has to do. In a few minutes, it will all be over. If only life were this easy all the time. A clear task. A young body at the command of a brave heart. Matter and spirit united in decisive action. That is the way heroes must feel.
Florence felt that way about itself in the early 16th century. Michelangelo felt that way about himself in the early 16th century. The man and the city held themselves in high regard. (...)
A few years after Michelangelo finished David, the Medici found their way back to power in Florence. Michelangelo had designed the fortifications that were meant to keep Florence safe from the Medici and whatever army they raised to come back. But the Medici were too rich, too powerful. They came back. Michelangelo moved to Rome. He was working with the Popes, who were in cahoots with the Medici. Despite his allegiance to Florence, Michelangelo was constantly engaged in projects meant to glorify the Medici name, like the famous Medici Chapel. Michelangelo was implicated in all of it; the dirty politics, the money, the bullshit, the beauty. A slave to the Popes. A slave to the Medici. A slave to his own genius.
by Morgan Meis, The Smart Set | Read more:
Image:Michelangelo's David
Michelangelo chose to make David — the giant-killer — into a giant himself. Mostly this has to do with accidents of history and dumb luck. There was a huge piece of marble lying around Florence in the 15th century. A couple of sculptors had tried to make a statue of it. But the block was tricky to work with, so tall and thin. No artist was yet up to the task. In 1501, Michelangelo, 26 years old at the time, said he could do the job. He promised to bring David out of the marble.David was a special figure for Florentines. This was Italy during the Renaissance: a collection of city-states and principalities usually at war with one another. This was a time of warrior popes and family feuds that killed hundreds. The people of Florence wanted to see themselves in David. Florence was the little city that could stand up to all the others. Plus, Florence had the powerful banking family, the Medici, to deal with. The Medici were always threatening to dominate Florence, economically and politically. In the late 15th century, the city kicked the Medici out of Florence. Defying the Medici was another David-like act. Problem was, the Medici had already commissioned a sculpture of David. That’s the famous statue by Donatello. With the ousting of the Medici, the people of Florence wanted to commission their own David. They wanted to take back the symbol for themselves.
So, Michelangelo solved two problems at once. He solved the technical problem of making a giant sculpture out of a giant block of marble. And he solved the problem of political symbols by creating a statue so overwhelming to behold that David would forever be associated with the Republic of Florence. The irony is that Michelangelo had learned to sculpt under the patronage of the Medici family, but his most famous work was a repudiation of their claims over the city.
Spectacular as David’s body is in Michelangelo’s sculpture, I think you have to see the body as basically a pillar. Because the block of marble that Michelangelo was working with was tall and thin, Michelangelo had to make a tall, thin David. Michelangelo did his best to make the figure supple, tense with motion. He gave David’s hip a little twist and had him stand in a classic contrapposto, the majority of his weight on the right leg. But in the end, David’s body conveys a tremendous sense of pillar-like verticality. The pillar of David’s body holds up an enormous head. David’s body is very much for his head. You don’t notice this so much if you look at the sculpture straight on. Standing right in front of his torso, David’s head is turned to the left and his facial features look almost benign. But if you move to the side and look at David from his left, the face really comes alive. David is fierce, even slightly crazed.
David looks out, presumably at the approaching Goliath. His body is loose, but ready to move. He sees what he has to do. In a few minutes, it will all be over. If only life were this easy all the time. A clear task. A young body at the command of a brave heart. Matter and spirit united in decisive action. That is the way heroes must feel.
Florence felt that way about itself in the early 16th century. Michelangelo felt that way about himself in the early 16th century. The man and the city held themselves in high regard. (...)
A few years after Michelangelo finished David, the Medici found their way back to power in Florence. Michelangelo had designed the fortifications that were meant to keep Florence safe from the Medici and whatever army they raised to come back. But the Medici were too rich, too powerful. They came back. Michelangelo moved to Rome. He was working with the Popes, who were in cahoots with the Medici. Despite his allegiance to Florence, Michelangelo was constantly engaged in projects meant to glorify the Medici name, like the famous Medici Chapel. Michelangelo was implicated in all of it; the dirty politics, the money, the bullshit, the beauty. A slave to the Popes. A slave to the Medici. A slave to his own genius.
by Morgan Meis, The Smart Set | Read more:
Image:Michelangelo's David
