David, David, and David

Many artists have fashioned statues David, the mighty slayer of Goliath in the Biblical Story. Such examples are the works of Michelangelo, Donatello, and Bernini. Although each person all uses the same subject matter, the portrayal of David is greatly different between each.

In Bernini’s David, a piece from the Baroque Era, David is captured in stone at the point where he is about to cast the fatal stone at the opposing giant. Bernini does not try to create the perfect picture of the human body, as Michelangelo did in his work, but instead he tries to capture the height of emotion. This can plainly be seen by the disheveled hair on David’s head, and the look of concentration on his face, as well as the pose he is in. The statue also makes you walk around it, as you cannot see the entire focus of the work from any one angle.

As before mentioned, Michelangelo tried to capture the image of the perfect man, in his own view of course. In Michelangelo’s statue, David is casually standing, seemingly unperturbed at any surrounding he might be in. The statue shows a man with what could be consider extremely good, if not perfect physique. The statue seems to almost show, not a mortal man, but a deity in human form.

In Donatello’s David, the subject stands leaning on a sword, standing over the severed head of Goliath. In the statue, David wears a large hat, and his hair easily reaches his shoulders. His expression and posture suggest a jovial, victorious attitude, but to me it also appears as a more feministic approach at the sculpting of David. Instead of a buff and broad hulk, it seems to me to be a more slender and lean figure.

Once again, though many statues have been made of David, no statue is completely similar in its portrayal or attitude.

Athens Has a School Too

In Raphael’s painting, the School of Athens, he depicts a scene from Ancient Greece where Aristotle and Plato are philosophizing together while surrounded by the crowds.

In the painting, there are many artistic techniques or forms that Raphael uses to show his scene from the past. He uses very geometric lines. The arches spanning across the roof of the school are one example of this. These, along with the row of people spanning between the edges of the front most arch, make an almost perfect half circle.

The color used in this painting is another technique of Raphael’s. He paints the center, where Plato and Aristotle are, as well as the other people at the school, in bright colors, drawing the eye towards them. The edges of the painting are darker, pulling the eye away from them, and back towards the center.

Another technique used in the painting is depth, demonstrated by the arches once again. Except instead of using the people to create this, the painting uses the arches travelling in a straight line back from the front of the painting to the back.

A fourth characteristic of the painting is the attribute of space. This is shown in a way similar to how depth was. The arches, as well as showing depth, show the space of the school. This can be done by comparing the size of the people in the school to the height of the second arch.

This painting also shows the world view of the Renaissance, and how the artists of the Renaissance showed an interest in the world of the classical world. This link is shown in the context of the painting itself, as the subject matter is of the classical world.

Many things can be seen and inferred about a painter from their works. This is just one example of such.