David’s Symbolism Of Florence

2 Pages 448 Words

Between 1501 and 1504, the Opera del Duomo commissioned Michelangelo to create a sculpture of David to help reclaim the civic imagery in Florence (348 Paoletti, Radke). David was traditionally portrayed after his victory over Goliath. Unlike Donatello’s and Verrochio’s David’s, who are depicted standing over the head of Goliath, Michelangelo depicts David before the battle and as an adolescent close to manhood. David appears ready to fight his enemy with a stone in his right hand and a satchel of rocks hidden behind his left shoulder. Michelangelo portrays a man surrounded by enemies much stronger than him, but David is a cunning victor and a symbol of strength. David and his placement have political implications that mimic the state of Florence as a city that is young, powerful, and ready to fight against outside enemies.

Florence was faced with troubling times when French King Charles VIII invaded the city. Without governing power of the Medici to keep Florence together, the city faced duress. The political dilemma that the city faced is the reason Michelangelo constructed David as an adolescent ready to fight instead of as the victor over Goliath. David’s stance and readiness for battle represents the city of Florence, and the political battle it faced to gain control of the city and battle outside armies greater than its own.

David’s size and stance also have underlying political implications. “The colossal size of the figure, nearly three times life size, implies a link with colossal sculptures of antiquity; the greatness of Greece and Rome now is equaled by that of Florence” (Paoletti, Radke 349). The statue represents an idea that Florence can be transformed from “ordinary into extraordinary by a decisive moment of action. Michelangelo’s placement of David in the contrapposto position “which was the Greek representation of heroes” can also imply that Florence is a city ready to take on the hero icon...