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Donatello Vs Michelangelo Analysis

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Dueling Visions of David: Donatello vs Michelangelo Name: Ayushi Gupta Id Number: 00067794 Page Break Dueling Vision of David: Donatello vs Michelangelo Two of Florence’s most celebrated sculptors Donatello and Michelangelo interpreted the same story of David in the two most novel and unusual way. Background Biblical story of David Political importance of David in Florence Donatello’s David Physical traits Height Material Process Visual description Interpretation and analysis What moment in history does the sculpture represent? Inference of expressions Why is the sculpture more feminine and ambiguous? Michelangelo’s David Physical traits Height Material Process Visual description Interpretation and analysis …show more content…

Completed by 1440, this sculpture was a deviation from any contemporary figurative piece, being the first life-size nude created since antiquity (Schneider, 1973, p. 213). In addition, Donatello applied a very different method of construction, where he first modeled his figure in clay and then had it cast in bronze. This was technically very difficult, assuming its size to be approximately six feet. Donatello's David (see Figure 1) portrays David unclad, except for a hat and boots, standing triumphantly over the head of the slain Goliath in a contrapposto pose. Such pose refers to the asymmetrical arrangement of the line of the arms and shoulders while balancing the hips and legs, suggesting relaxation with the subtle internal organic movement that denotes life. His expressions, especially the enigmatic smile, evinces an arrogant and egoistic outlook. It is of paramount importance to note that the story of David advocates masculinity and strength, but this piece accentuates a female anatomical pose with its positioning, otherwise known as lordosis. It provides an "abnormally increased inward curvature to the lower region of the spine resulting in a concave back as viewed from the side"(); also his legs are considerably wider than that of the male nude. Furthermore, the sheen bronze adds to the overtone …show more content…

223). Conventionally, David was depicted after his triumph, victorious over the slain Goliath; however, he chose to depict David before the battle. Carved out of a single block of marble from the quarries in Carrara in Tuscany, this statue stands fourteen feet tall (Brucker, 1998, p. 223). It stands relaxed, yet attentive, resting on the antique contrapposto pose. The slingshot he carries over his shoulder is almost invisible, emphasizing that David’s victory was one of mental strength, not physical. Moreover, Michelangelo's David (see Figure 2) exhibits a tense stance with his brow furrowed, the tendons in his neck taut and his eyes focused on something in the distance. In addition, veins are visible in his arms as he clutches the stones with one hand and the slingshot in the other. Furthermore, the figure has an abnormally disproportionate head and a dramatic right hand, possibly because they were deemed more visually important for viewers. It is also possible that in order to underline David's concentration and pondered action, Michelangelo intentionally overproportioned the head and the right hand (Brucker, 1998, p. 223). On the surface, Michelangelo's David is indeed a High Renaissance interpretation of the standing heroic male

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This sculpture is a mixture of female and male traits; its idea is to describe the realism without mythical and big muscles as was found in the Hellenistic period. Donatello’s David shows realism more than it does an ideal condition of man as in the Greek Hellenistic period. There are a few ways to tell. First, David’s skinny body and his arrogant expression reveal a confident man and anon-mythical expression that would not have been made as artwork during the Hellenistic period.

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These understandable themes allow Michelangelo’s viewers to relate to the paintings at a personal level. Michelangelo and Reb Saunders can be compared to each other by how others comprehend their ideas. Reb Saunders is not understood by others because of his complex and peculiar thinking. Michelangelo, on the other hand, is easy to comprehend because of his personal style of

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The biggest similarity between both sculptures is the delicate detail provided to the both figures. The big muscles, tilted brow and the beaten up look of ‘Seated Boxer’s’ body shows the nature rule of human figure and the strength of the human body. ‘David’s’ lean and smaller form show the little details of the male form, and ‘David’ is very balance between confidence and strength of male with the arrogant emotional and combined part of male and female (Allen, 2014). In both the Hellenistic and early Italian Renaissance periods; the human form became a study for artists and sculptors, because of the difficulty in accurate to recreate it, so that the perfection becomes a goal to achieve by the time. Furthermore, the Greeks also find a fact that successful sculptures are those pieces that actually could imply the religion and show strength of men in both physically and mentally.

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When another artist remakes the work of a former one it always gives a sense of admiration and gives another point of view on the topic. The two sculptures of David are both breath taking. However, Bernini and Michelangelo achieve this feeling in diverse ways. Bernini’s David gives the sense of a Baroque styled sculpture. Meaning that it expresses a grandiose image that portrays masculinity.

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Michelangelo was the first Italian artist to depict the duo in such a position. Furthermore, Michelangelo differed from previous

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The Cycladic Female Figurine, located at the Walter’s Museum of Art in Baltimore, is a small sculpture originating from the Cyclades islands in the Aegean Sea sometime between 2500 - 2400 B.C. The sculpture depicts the nude female figure covering her stomach with her arms, with little to no facial features. The nose and breasts are protruding out of the figure while the rest of the figure remains flat. The neck of the figure is long and slender, which connects to a half circle with a nose that extends beyond the flat surface. The color of the piece is a greenish brown, and the material of the sculpture is made of marble with a very smooth surface.

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People have told stories with marble, as well as ink. The focus of the Renaissance was the arts. Artists had evolved their skillsets since the Middle Ages, for example, their paintings weren’t 2D and they focused on people rather than just gods. The detail of sculptures and paintings became more realistic than it had been during the Middle Ages. In Michelangelo's sculpture David completed in 1504, he sculpted an image of David from David and Goliath holding a slingshot, before he kills the beast with a stone.

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The shape of a pointed-up triangle represents the maturation of David’s masculinity. The triangle is equal on all three sides, this symbolizes David’s physical appearance. David’s personal attributes suit the norm, yet within he possesses a deviation. David is witty and compassionate; red and royal blue symbolize these traits. Confusion and emptiness penetrate David’s soul.

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David represents very muscular, he wearing a robe. And this robe is the Roman style robe, ever thought David is not a

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1. The artist Donatello molded a figure of David, the figure stands at 158 cm tall. It is currently on display in Florence, Italy and the medium used is bronze. The second figure was created by Michelangelo, the figure stands at 13’5″ tall and was carved from a single rectangular piece of marble. It is currently on display inside the Accademia Museum in Florence.

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David is a topic from the Old Testament, which is widely repeated and done by many artists. David is a story where it shows that not only does strength wins in a battle but also wits. Each artist depicts David in different views and moments, like Michelangelo who is an Italian sculptor painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance, another is Gian Lorenzo Bernini who is an Italian architect and sculptor, and he was credited with creating the Baroque style of sculpture. Although both artists depicted David, but each one had different style where Bernini’s is more expressive then Michelangelo’s. Looking at both sculptures of David, there are some similarities which can be noticed.

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Similoluwa Oluwole Professor Bult ART 107 13 November, 2015 Michelangelo and his work: Creation of Adam Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, commonly known as Michelangelo, was born on March 6, 1475 at Caprese, Tuscany now known as Italy (Roger 2). Michelangelo, like Leonardo, was a man of many talents; he was a renowned Florentine sculptor, architect, painter, and poet. He is credited as the founder of the high Renaissance style and considered the most influential of late Renaissance artists (Houston 16). His works exhibit his remarkable understanding of human anatomy and muscular structure, a skill which he used to incorporate emotion and liveliness into his works. He rarely painted landscapes; his subject matters were mostly human,

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Donatello’s bronze statue of David with his foot placed upon Goliath’s severed head was a symbol of the power of Florence and

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Another reason for decorating Florence however, was so that the citizens could show their solidarity towards their community and give back to city which they so dearly loved. Such civic values not only inspired the citizens, but also the sculptors, especially Donatello, with his creation of David. He stood for Florence and her liberty. For triumph over tyranny. However, the fight was not over yet, as Florence would have to face off against tyranny once again in the next

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At age 17, Michelangelo had begun to dissect corpses from the local church graveyard to gain a much deeper understanding of the human body. Michelangelo had to be extremely cautious when examining corpses seeing as the act was strictly banned by the church, making the act illegal. Nonetheless, Michelangelo still had an amazing understanding of the human body and its proportions were extremely critical to his success rate as a sculptor and artist. Michelangelo’s incredibly realistic sculptures showed finely chiseled veins, wrinkles, muscles, bones, and nerves. Such skill was and still is unsurpassed till this day in the 21st century.

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