Last night I was listening to our pastor's homily on the Gospel reading of Peter walking on water and how, in the midst of what was an incredible miracle, there was fear. Peter was experiencing something powerful and unknown, something which was unexplainable, and when his fear because bigger than his faith his steps faltered. How different was David's reaction in the Old Testament when he walked forward to face Goliath armed only with a rock, a sling, and a deep faith in God.
And because I was thinking about David, I thought of Michelangelo's interpretation, so I give you this ... an excerpt of a presentation I did before our trip to Italy last September.
Michelangelo's David
1- Michelangelo’s
sculpting methods: Unlike most sculptors who circled around a block of marble chiseling
from all sides, Michelangelo worked from the front to the back. He believed
that an object was imprisoned in stone and it was up to him to release it.
2- The Prisoners: As
you walk down the Galleria Hallway and see David
in the distance, notice the unfinished works along the wall. Known as the
prisoners, captives, or slaves, these are unfinished works by Michelangelo.
Because he sculpted from the front of the stone to the back, the unfinished
figures look as if they are emerging (or trying to escape) from the stone.
4- Using the flaw: The
block of marble that Michelangelo used had been discarded more than 50 years
earlier by Donatello who claimed that it had a flaw.
5- Breaking with
tradition: Michelangelo chose to depict David
at a different point in the Biblical account. Most artists and sculptors
portrayed David after the battle with
Goliath—often holding his severed head; however, Michelangelo broke with
artistic tradition by portraying him just before
the battle.
6- Ready for action: While
it may seem as if David’s pose is
casual, he’s not. His face in concentration, the rock hidden in his right palm,
the veins standing out in his hand, and
the slingshot casually resting on his shoulder hints at him waiting for the
right moment to attack—that is, he’s feigning casualness to spring the element
of surprise.
7- The ultimate
Renaissance man: The slingshot he carries over his shoulder is almost
invisible, emphasizing that David’s victory was one of cleverness, not sheer force. He transmits
exceptional self-confidence and concentration,
both values of the “thinking man” which was considered perfection during the
Renaissance.
8- Out of proportion:
As with his Pieta a few years
earlier, Michelangelo played with proportions by giving David an unusually large head and an imposing right hand. While
this may have been because the statue was intended for the façade of Florence’s
Duomo, some scholars believe that Michelangelo intentionally over-proportioned the head to
underline his concentration,
whereas the hand’s exaggerated size symbolizes the pondered action.
9- The hand of God:
The asymmetry of David’s hand can be
studied even further. Some believe it to be Michelangelo's clever nod to David's nickname, manu fortis—which which means strong of hand. Additionally,
the large hand also represents the hand of God guiding David to victory.
10- More to give: Five years before David's debut,
Michelangelo's Pieta made him famous. But he had been so young that
many weren’t completely sure if he could produce another masterpiece. But it
was his David that defined the 29-year-old High Renaissance
artist as a master sculptor. And just imagine, four years later (in 1508) he
would begin work on his greatest painting achievement in the ceiling of the Sistine
Chapel.
Whoever has seen this work need not trouble to see any other work executed in sculpture,
either in our own or in other times.
~Giorgio Vasari, Italin painter and architect (16th c.)
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