Donatello's David

If Michelangelo was the artist of the Italian Renaissance, then Donatello was it's harbinger. These two sculptures are at the Bargello Museum, and they are well worth seeing, as well as Bernini's rendition of the young and future king.. Michelangelo's version is truly awe inspiring, but these other three make a more complete story of Italian sculpture in the fifteenth and sixteenth century. Donatello's bronze David is age unknown but thought to be from about 1440, and is considered to be the first bronze of the Italian Renaissance. It was almost shocking to me to see this statue. David looks like a girl--and you should see the shot of the back--it is even more suggestive of a female figure. He looks almost coquettish, his eyes glancing downward and the half smile on his face. Which belies the head of Goliath under his foot, all the while he is wielding Goliath's sword.

The bronze David makes me wonder about Donatello's sexual orientation, but his earlier work in marble (1408-1409) has a different quality. First of all, David is dressed--so the Italian Renaissance tolerance and even encouragement of the return to the days of the Greeks and nude statues is not yet upon them. David looks young, but not sassy young. He is more serious and contemplative. The bronze David lived in a private home--if you can call the Medici's private and where they lived a home. They entertained on an impressive scale and their houses don't strike me as homes, but this was not a statue in a public square. These statues are both in the same room, so you can move between them ad go around them. Very thought provoking.