Introduction
Artists have the talent of presenting their ideas through drawings or sculptures. From a sculpture, one can be able to understand the idea that the person who developed it wanted to put across. Different artists may come up with the same artwork but each has a different meaning. Based on the features included in the artwork, one can be able to compare and contrast the two artworks. This paper aims at comparing and contrasting the works of Michelangelo, David, and Donatello David.
The statues of David and Donatello David
The history of the statue of David dates back before the sculptural work done by Michelangelo from 1501 to 1504. Before then, members of the Office of Works of Duomo had an intention of coming up with twelve sculptures from the Old Testament. This marked the beginning of the development of the sculpture of Donatello David. The sculpture was not fully completed following the death of Donatello. It was not until August sixteen 1501, that the work of coming up with the sculpture of David was revisited. Michelangelo was given the responsibility of carving out the sculpture (Kleiner & Mamiya 46).
Unlike Donatello David which represents the biblical David after his battle against Goliath, Michelangelo David represents the biblical David just before he fights Goliath. From the marble statue, David can be seen contemplating. He is not aware of what will happen between him and Goliath. Instead of depicting David with the slain Goliath as it is in Donatello David, Michelangelo’s David looks nervous and ready for war (Seymour 76). How his face is represented as well as his pose implies that he is in motion. While Michelangelo develops the statue of David which depicts him as more of a man, Donatello represents David as more of a boy than a man. Michelangelo’s David has few sexual symbols in comparison with Donatello’s David. Michelangelo takes sculpture as the highest form of art since it imitates celestial creation. Due to his value for visual arts, he developed the sculpture as though it was already in the marble block he curved the sculpture from. Michelangelo’s David is an example of the contrapposto style of posturing human form (Seymour 95). The style was highly valued during the renaissance period as a way of representing old sculptures.
Donatello’s sculpture was developed during the early renaissance period. From the sculpture, Donatello is found to attempt coming up with more realistic features in his sculpture. This is reflected in his presentation of the sculpture with a pouchy stomach and saggy behind. On the other hand, Michelangelo’s work is developed during the renaissance period. From Michelangelo’s work, a person can come up with a clear understanding of the event depicted by the sculpture. The inclusion of features such as bulging veins on the face of David allows one to get an idea that the sculpture depicts David just before he faces Goliath in the battle (Stokstad 24).
Conclusion
Despite the two sculptures being different in size, they both exhibit analogous formal characteristics. Since Michelangelo’s David is bigger, it makes it possible for the artist to depict human features such as hands, genitals, and feet clearly and precisely. The same features are reflected in Donatello’s David only that the statue is smaller making it hard for the artist to bring out the features precisely as in Michelangelo’s David (Kleiner & Mamiya pp. 52-57). Just as in Michelangelo’s David, the nudity in Donatello’s David is derived from the biblical text which describes David as the biblical hero and the king to be.
Works Cited
Kleiner, Fred, and Mamiya, Christin. Gardner’s Art through the Ages. Fort Worth: Harcourt College, 2001. Print.
Seymour, Charles, Jr. Michelangelo’s David: a search for identity.Mellon Studies in the Humanities, 1967.
Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History, 2nd Ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999. Print.