King David remains one of the powerful and iconic figures beyond the Bible. He remains alive in the minds of many artists who portray his picture and deeds in the Old Testament. As such, David’s multifaceted responsibility in the Bible made him the centre of focus in the baroque and renaissance art especially as a leader, hero, a king, shepherd, and a victor. Basing on the biblical view, King David was termed as the forefathers of Christianity and Judaism whose work and experience are mainly described in the Old Testament of the Bible. The story of David appears in a number of chapters or books in the Bible, for instance in the I Samuel 16 onwards, II Samuel, and the book of Kings. He is also considered traditionally as the author of Psalms, about 73 chapters focus on David. Also, he was born in Bethlehem and youngest son to Jesse, who demonstrated leadership skills from the point he was chosen as King of Israel by God. Therefore, he was anointed by Samuel and further fought a victorious battle and defeated Goliath (I Samuel 17:35-51). The peculiar attributes of David in the Old Testament is key for the historic and artistic venture that is geared at relaying the information on this to the audience. In this regard, he took upon himself to fight for the Israelites and guide them through most of the battles in their land.
This essay aims at examining the Old Testament figure of David as represented in the Renaissance art. The paper will also delve into examining the story of David, its symbolic link to Florence, the comparison of the bronze figure of David by Donatello and Andrea Del, and finally the marble sculpture of David by Michelangelo (1501-1504).
The Symbolic Connection to Florence in the Renaissance
Basing on the symbolic connection of David to the Florence in the renaissance art, a number of art dimensions and signs were used to illicit the message to the audience. In this view, David (Donatello) is basically a statue of the famous biblical David (Farbaky, 2017). This was made by an Italian artist by the name Donatello who focused on the key attributes of the King during his heroic moments in the historical apex as described in the bible. In this regard, the work was made in marble clothed in the year 1408-09 which depicted a period of historic artist in the Museo Nazionale Del Bergello in Florence. Therefore, this had a connection to the city of Florence as it was meant to bring out the image of victory in the region. The use of the statue to symbolize the book of Psalms where King David frequently used it to draw close to God in prayer and songs which was a great illumination of David composing the psalms from Florence. According to classicism in character and style, David statue appears reminiscent to the Florence musicians and poets such as Orpheus (Brucker, 2015).
In addition to that, this reminds or symbolizes the triumph of good over evil especially when the David and Goliath fought after he accepted the challenge. The challenge as per David was God fought and directed which showed assign of victory that every person wants to associate with in the luck and the guidance of supernatural being (Neher " Shepherd, 2017). The confidence elicited by David is also brought as a symbol in the piece of art and this relates to the Florence in the renaissance period. Furthermore, according to the Signoria of Florence the commissioning of the piece of art was not only to symbolize the hero traits of the famous biblical David but also as assign of political icon and representation. As such, it was supposed to bring out the message of leadership and political representation in the region. Any leader was expected to be politically wise and act with heroic traits like David, so that whoever sees the statue was expected to lead with the guidance of God. Therefore, one had to emulate the story of the King David to be successful in the land (Brucker, 2015).
There was also a metaphorical meaning of the representation of the piece of art which signified the symbol of faith. Faith was an element in the mediaeval times that every person or leader was expected to have. This resulted from the stories of David in the biblical view where he killed Goliath when other people were scared to face the adversary and as a result he saved the whole nation (Coonin, 2016). The symbol is key in ensuring one puts the nation a head of their fears and human desires and allows the will of the almighty prevail over that of people and themselves. So faith is a formidable element of a steadfast human spirit that is symbolized to propel one to do their best or emerge a hero at the peak of all odds as David did.
Given that David was considered as a king of Jerusalem and one of the ancestors to Christ, he was a signal of messianic traditions. This was illustrated by the bathing of Bethsaida which showed the sacrament of spiritual baptism where Christians are expected to seek salvation through the church and not focus on the worldly things which will draw them away from God. Therefore, every person was expected to focus on their path of salvation and ensure Christ dwells in them (Grandolfo, 2015). This was understood to be a metaphor especially of Florence strength which was used to indicate the victory over the foreign adversaries in the lands. In most cases, Florentine of the 15th
Century saw themselves as an analogy of the biblical David, where it was David facing the huge enemy Goliath. This was because they considered themselves superior to tyrant cities such as Italic Peninsula which constituted of other cities in the region. As such, David was the symbol of Medici family and the defender of the Florentine liberty. The political and historical tensions were also part of the analysis of the David piece of art as a great symbol of learning the way of life of the different cities and nations of that time in history. The symbol of this statue was also linked to the defence of the fatherland in which respect is accorded to every person who suits this interest in the society especially for the Florentine who had constant wrangles with other nations. In this regard, it was a symbol of independence and favour to the de facto leaders of Florence (Grandolfo, 2015).
Comparison of the Bronze figure of David by Donatello and that by Andrea Del Verrocchio
Considering the bronze figures of David, there exists a clear difference between one pieces of art from the other. This is illustrated through a number of components and systems that define the art texture and message portrayed by the artist. In this view, the David bronze figure by Donatello was completely different and to some extent similar to that of Andrea Del Verrocchio (Farbaky, 2017). The differences emanate from the nature of the art drawn, the painting, the age, the representations, and the message drawn from it. Firstly, the bronze by Donatello indicates the accurate biblical narrative of the King David in that he is depicted as an adolescent who was commissioned to stand in Palazzo. The young man with much strength, wisdom, and seeking Gods direction is all that was illustrated by the artist. In addition to that, Donatello’s figure is accurately modelled in a more relaxed and quiet position than that of Verrocchio. Furthermore, the nature of dimensions used are compact and with no complexity or spaces in its make up to relay the meaning to the audience as they view it (Farbaky, 2017).
On the other hand the nature of bronze image by the Verrocchio is complex in its dimensions since it possess a number of spaces and a definite geometry that brings out the meaning in tis representation. In addition to that, the sculpture or the bronze figure is seen to depict the endurance of the Florentine and the Medici family in their lifestyle in the nations by then. The version by Verrocchio was regarded as critical editing of the work of his predecessors which shows David stand in Contrapposto. The illustration and the complexity of the bronze was vivid in its detail and anatomy as the set of rules applied by the artist, Verrocchio. As such, the integration of feelings and confidence of Verrocchio were clearly seen in the piece of art where the message is seen to evoke the feelings of stand and distinction from the audience too (Brucker, 2015).
However, the combination of the two bronze figures of David in both the artist showed at least some similarity in the way they presented the ideas of David from different perspectives held. In this view, they both use the 2 and 3-dimensions to illustrate the pictures without much difference in this presentation. Also, the sense of action and mobility tends to come out clear in both the pictures of the David in the artists which is an illustration of the same period, which is the Baroque period (Grandolfo, 2015). Furthermore, the idea of each picture of bronze showing David with a masculine and firm physique is a style used by both the artists to illustrate the true heroic picture of David.
The marble Sculpture of David curved by Michelangelo
Considering the marble sculpture by Michelangelo that was made in 1501-1504, innovative skills and styles were seen to be used by the artist as compared to earlier pictures. The picture of David in this level of renaissance broke from composure to introspection with a perfect chiselled and idealized anatomical style in use. The sculpture consisted of a colossal block of tainted and sparkling stone. Therefore, it indicated innovative artistic style in use as it focused much on the integration of the modern and traditional styles of art. Also, superhuman beauty and the biblical message was displayed and easily understood from the glance (Grandolfo, 2015).
References
American Bible Society. (2010). King James Version Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments.
New York: American Bible Society. Print
Brucker, G. A. (2015). The civic world of early Renaissance Florence. Princeton University Press.
Coonin, A. V. (2016). Bellotto’s Blunder and Michelangelo’s David. Source: Notes in the History of Art, 35(3), 250-257.
Grandolfo, A. (2015). Giovanni Caccini (1556-1613): The Rise of the Language of Counter- reformation in Florentine Late-renaissance Sculpture (Doctoral dissertation, University of London).
Farbaky, P. (2017). Architecture and sculpture in early Renaissance Hungary: art and patronage. Sculpture Journal, 26(1), 53-68.
Neher, G., " Shepherd, R. (Eds.). (2017). Revaluing Renaissance Art. Routledge.
