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Date : approx. between 1430 and 1449
Material : Bronze
| Item 18 on 34
Italian Sculpture
Sculpture
Area related
Florence (Italy)
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Donatello's bronze statue of David (circa 1440s) is notable as the first unsupported standing work in bronze cast since classical times. It created a sensation when it was first shown, due to its portrayal of the nude young male. It depicts the young David with an enigmatic smile, posed with his foot on Goliath's severed head just after killing the giant. The youth is standing naked, apart from a laurel-topped hat and boots, bearing the sword of Goliath.
The exact date of creation is unknown, but widely disputed, and dates vary between 1430 and the more accepted 1440s. Donatello had made a marble statue of David in 1408/1409, though this figure was a well-dressed and victorious king holding his sling, having not yet slain the giant. The bronze version's effeminate physique, which Mary McCarthy called "a transvestite's and fetishist's dream," establishes David as the beloved of Jonathan. This physical frailty contrasted with the absurdly large sword by his side shows that David has conquered Goliath not by physical prowess, but through the will of God. The boy's nakedness further enhances the idea of the presence of God, constrasting the youth with the heavily-armoured giant.
The statue originally belonged to Cosimo de' Medici, and was placed in the courtyard of the Palazzo Medici in Florence. After the expulsion of Piero de' Medici, it was confiscated, and ordered placed in the courtyard of the Palazzo della Signoria. It is now in the Bargello. There is a full-size plaster cast (with broken sword) in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
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