Compare And Contrast David And Goliath

Before looking at the works themselves, it’s beneficial to have an understanding of the subject they are focused on. Many people are familiar with the story of a young boy named David vanquishing the gargantuan warrior Goliath with nothing but a slingshot, but few are aware of who David truly was. The last of eight sons, David led a solitary and strenuous life as a shepherd. It was this experience that would prepare him for the challenge to come. According to biblical researcher Wayne Blank in his article “David and Goliath” on his website Daily Bible Study at http://www.keyway.ca, by protecting his sheep from predators, David had “developed his courage and fighting skills.” But these weren’t the only talents he had fine-tuned in the fields.
Blank goes on to say that “The free time […] also allowed him to develop two other skills, that of music and poetry. David was a warrior, and a writer of psalms.” So it was his sensitivity, strong body and strong faith that would see him victorious over Goliath, and be celebrated in countless artworks. The sculptures of David by Michelangelo and Bernini, despite being separated by over a century, are quite comparable.
Because they are of the same person, they obviously share a similar likeness. Both depictions show David with curly hair, a long, pointed nose and a strong, rounded jaw. He is fairly muscular and standing on some sort of rocky terrain, much like the battlefield in the story is envisioned to be. The statues are similar on deeper levels as well. It is clear by the amount of detail that the subject was someone significant. He was an individual that both the artists felt should be portrayed as strong and substantial, but each sculptor had a different strategy to demonstrate their
ideas. Several differences in Michelangelo’s piece derive from the period it was produced in. The most noticeable distinction of Michelangelo’s version of David is that it’s a full nude. This primarily because it was completed during the Renaissance, when nudity was once again at the peak of popularity. During the previous medieval period, the supremacy of the Christian church stressed ideals such as modesty, humility and conservatism. However, in “The Nude in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance” published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art in January 2008 at http://www.metmuseum.org, Jean Sorabella states, “The rediscovery of Greco-Roman culture in the Renaissance restored the nude to the heart of creative endeavor […] and by the mid-fifteenth century, nudes had become symbols of antiquity and its reincarnation.” This unclad and inquisitive style of the time sets the stage for other singular features in the work. The David portrayed by Michelangelo is more pensive than it is powerful.
The statue shows a subject that seems undecided, and doesn’t have much purpose or direction. He is standing in a ready but fairly relaxed pose, and there isn’t much action depicted. There also aren’t many props or tools to support the character. David is holding his sling in his hand, but there is little detail to it, and it’s difficult to see at nearly all angles. Being somewhat plain in terms of components, the focus of the artwork is David himself, not what he had or what he did. The emphasis of the piece is emotion; how David felt about the famous task that lay ahead of him. Based on what is known about David, the fact that he could be reflective makes sense, but thoughtfulness wasn’t the only trait he was credited
for. Bernini’s David Slaying Goliath is the more vigorous and athletic of the two figures. As the name indicates, in this piece David is preparing to face Goliath, and as stated by Roger Kamien in his book Music: An Appreciation that was published in 2011 by McGraw Hill, the statue “fills space with action and movement. It is far more dynamic than Michelangelo’s David.” Also, in contrast to its counterpart, David Slaying Goliath exhibits several belongings that assist in telling David’s story. Among these effects are his slingshot, a harp and his armor, which has been shed and sitting on the ground beside him. The key difference, though, is in the interpretation of the works. Unlike Michelangelo’s rendition, Bernini’s work is centered on the deed being done. There is less attention paid to the emotion of the character, and instead the intention of the piece is to embody the boy’s achievement and the legacy it left behind.