Donatello and Michelangelo Statue of David - Research Paper Example

Italy, with its wealthy families willing to spend for education, saw the birth of the Renaissance period. This era of Italian Renaissance can be ified into Early, High and Late Renaissance. “With this rebirth in intellect came the greater interest in Ancient Greek and Roman culture that inspired the revival of Classicism.” (Art History) In sculpture, the likes of Donatello and Michelangelo would give the world of art timeless and renowned figures. These masters’ works and copies of such have been and continue to be preserved for educational and/or aesthetic purposes by both lovers and non-lovers of art. “Perhaps one of the most famous statues in the world today is the Statue of David by Michelangelo.” (statue.com) In the Bible, David beats the giant Goliath with his sling and rock. Throughout history, there have been many different interpretations of David. “Several Italian masters produced iconic sculptures of David.” (Steves, Openshaw 92) One of them is Donatello. David who stands contrapossto, or weight on one leg. However, the body of Donatello’s David appears soft. His stance is graceful and feminine (Steves) and with his long hair falling on his slender shoulders, at first glance he may be mistaken for a woman. The appearance of his genitalia nevertheless confirms that he is male. While some people say Donatello’s David exudes pride after his triumph over Goliath, others observe the statue to be contemplative, as if finally realizing what had just transpired – a little man defeating a giant. (Donatello’s David) With his interpretation of David, Donatello made statues come to life, so to speak, separating them from paintings and making them free-standing. In addition, “his statue suggests that David-like Florence, a city of refinement, art and beauty, is mightier than the brutish, Goliath-like dujkes of Milan, who were bullying northern Italy (Escultura).” FB Tarbell, Ph. D. (214) writes “his slender body suggests elasticity and agility rather than brute strength.” “David appears calm and confident, yet tense and poised for action like a taut bow (Wilder 166).” Similar to Donatello’s David, this one also stands with his weight on one leg. However, this muscular and tall David looks to his left with a frown on his face. His right hand is curved over a rock while his left holds a sling on his left shoulder. Where Donatello’s David seems to be contemplating on his victory by gazing downwards where his foot rests on Goliath’s head, Michelangelo’s creation looks as if it is disturbed by the presence of his aggressor. He is described as “a young man at the best of his physical health, with an expression frowning and austere (David).” Image 4 – Michelangelo’s David Because of its size and because it is believed that Michelangelo intended for people to look up to the David, it is unnoticeable at first glance that the statue is not proportioned. John Addington Symonds (47) writes: “The David, to state the matter frankly, is a colossal hobbledehoy. His body, in breadth of the thorax, depth of the abdomen, and general stoutness, has not grown up to the scale of the enormous hands and feet and heavy head.” Michelangelo did get inspiration from the Greek and Roman sculptures but either he intended not to fully follow the standards of proportion or was limited by the block of marble passed on to him. It must be remembered that the great sculptor was asked to finish the David. The masculinity in David by Michelangelo is reminiscent of the Doryphoros and the Apoxymenos. These, too, were statues of nude males with muscular physique and unruly curly hair. Their stance was also contrapossto. There are distinctive differences though. The Doryphoros or spear-bearers, unlike the Michelangelo’s David, is equally proportioned. “It was intended to epitomize the ideal human form.” (Hurwit 12) It has an almost smiling expression on its face. Also, the Doryphoros holds a spear in his left hand and looks to his right. His whole body is relaxed. It has been “interpreted as ambling, as striding, as marching, as pausing in stride, or only appearing to pause in stride… (52)” Furthermore Furtwangler notes (227) “the powerful muscles are developed equally all over the body without any undue exaggeration of particular parts, and all the principal veins are indicated.” The first Doryphoros statue is believed to have been that of an Olympic pentathlete. This may explain the well-developed physique. The Apoxyomenos is the Greek word for “scraping himself” (Hurll 26). After Olympians race, they scrape off the oil on their bodies. This Greek statue was built with a physique similar to Michelangelo’s David. It is also posed contrapossto and has the same curly hair. Unlike the David though, the Apoxyomenos “stands in an attitude of rest, scraping his right arm. (Hurll 26).” Works Cited: Apoxyomenos. Accessed on October 27, 2010 from http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/miscellanea/museums/apoxyomenos.html Art History: Renaissance: (1400-1600). World Wide Arts Resources. September 22 2009. Accessed on October 30, 2010 from http://wwar.com/masters/movements/renaissance.html David by Michelangelo. Accessed on October 29, 2010 from http://www.toscanaviva.com/Firenze/david_by_michelangelo.htm. Donatello’s David. Accessed on October 29, 2010 from http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/arth/arth213/donatello_david.html Donatello’s David. Smarthistory. Accessed on October 31, 2010 from http://smarthistory.org/Donatello.html FB Tarbell, Ph. D. The great age of Greek. 184-268. History of Greek Art super review. Research and education association: New Jersey. 2002 Furtwängler, Adolf. Masterpieces of Greek Sculpture: A Series of Essay on the History of Art. New York: Cambridge University Press. 2010. Print. Hurwit, Jeffrey M. The Doryphoros: Looking Backward. In Warren G. Moon’s Polykleitos, the Doryphoros and tradition. Wisconsin: The Univ. of Wisconsin Press. 1995. Print. Hurll, Estelle M. Greek Sculpture: A Collection of Sixteen Pictures of Greek Marbles, with introduction and interpretation. United States: BiblioLife, LLC. 2009. Print. History for Dummies. New Jersey: Wiley Publishing, Inc. 2007. Print. Image 1 – Donatello Biografie. Accessed on October 28. 2010 from http://www.weltchronik.de/ws/bio/d/donatello/da01466a-Donatello-1386mmddb-14661213d.htm Image 2 - II. Escultura: Donatello (Florencia, Italia: 1386-1466) Arte renacentista. Accessed on October 27, 2010 from http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/L/A-Robert.R.Lauer-1/RenArt.html Image 3 – Michelangelo’s David. http://smarthistory.org/Michelangelo-David.html Image 4 – Michelangelo’s David. Petro, Bill. Ignorance Abroad. Accessed on October 28, 2010 from http://ignoranceabroad.billpetro.com/2008/11/04/florence-galleria-michelangelos-david/. Weblog. Image 5 - Doryphoros by Polycleitos. Classical Greek Scultpure. Kidipede. 1995. Accessed on October 28, 2010 from http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/art/sculpture/classical.htm Image 6 – the Apoxyomenos. Accessed on October 28, 2010 from http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/arth/Images/109images/4thc_Hellenistic/Lysippos_Apoxy.jpg Kleiner, Fred S. Leonardo and Michelangelo. Gardner’s art through the ages: the Western Perspective. Boston: Wadsworth Publishing, 2009. Print. Statue of David by Michelangelo. Accessed on October 29, 2010 from http://www.statue.com/statue-of-david.html Steves, Rick and Openshaw, Gene. Rick Steves’ Florence and Tuscany 2008. California: Avalon Travel Publishing, 2008. Print. Symonds, John Addington. The Life of Michelangelo Buonarotti. Montana: Kessinger Publishing, LLC. 2004. Print. Tobin, Richard. The pose of the Doryphoros. In Warren G. Moon’s Polykleitos, the Doryphoros and tradition. Wisconsin: The Univ. of Wisconsin Press. 1995. Print. Wilder, Jessie Bryant. Part III. The Art after the Fall of Rome: A.D. 500-A.D. 1760. Art Read More