Three Davids Analysis

Whenever a piece of art is created, it always reflects the cultural and societal notions of the time, as well as the artist’s interaction with his environment. The three Davids in question were crafted in the era of the Italian Renaissance, a period of revival for the arts and culture. Created by Donatello (1440-1442), Michelangelo (1501-1504), and Bernini (1623), they respectively represent the beginning, peak and end of the Renaissance. Each sculpture hence embodied different ideals that the society or artists valued, whilst sharing similarities in that all three portray a nude or semi-nude figure of David. The choice of subject in itself reflects a paradigm shift towards humanity instead of the divine. Whereas sculptures of antiquity used

Even his left foot is placed gently on the head of Goliath; his knee bent inwards instead of outwards to suggest not dominance but rather a subtle connection. The traditional male dominance is lost. This could be interpreted as a representation of homosexuality that was commonly practised in the Middle Ages (Boswell), even though it was considered a crime during the time of the creation of this sculpture. Another reading is that Donatello wanted to explore other ways to portray the male nude, this being one of the first male nudes of the Renaissance. The lack of defined musculature also allowed the body of David to flow smoothly and uninterrupted, effecting a sense of dynamism in a resting figure to present the body as expressive and

3). Such a dynamic mode of artistic expression was quite rare in those days. Such was the style of the Baroque; figures no longer stood alone but rather interacted with the space around them. As opposed to Donatello’s presentation of the heroic nude and Michelangelo’s appreciation of David’s intense human emotion, Bernini’s style involved movement and dynamism. The flow of energy in his work was characteristic of the Baroque style of art that he spearheaded, often entailing multiple viewing angles which allowed the work to be appreciated wherever the viewer was standing (Hibbard). This is also present in his rendition of David. The use of the diagonal axis and tension traps the viewer in the action and energy of his sculpture, framing a moment in time that engages the