The David (8)

Photo by: Tania Zatikian

Michelangelo was given a piece of flawed marble that another artist started working on but later decided to give up. It was a giant block of marble, which had been mauled so bad that it was completely abandoned. It was given to him as something useless. It was difficult to sculpt an entire figure without breaking it down into pieces first. Michelangelo was one of the few who had the courage to make the attempt. I had the privilege to see this 14-foot masterpiece up front. Pictures don’t do it justice. The fact that Michelangelo took so much time to pay attention to the details of the story behind this piece alone puts me in awe.  The way David is positioned is not just by chance, but is thought out specifically to make him look like a humble servant of God. In the bible, David was not a warrior; he was a poor boy who had placed all his faith in God. So when you look at the piece you don’t see a proud David who’s proud and flaunting the fact that he just killed Goliath. Looking at the statue, you notice that his right hand is disproportionately large compared to the rest of the body, that’s because back then David was commonly said to be of “manu fortis” which means “strong of hand” You see a strong yet humble boy. You can barely see the stone and sling, which emphasizes how David owned his victory not just by force or brutality, but also by his intelligence and innocence. Vasari says in “The Lives” that "The grace of this figure and the serenity of its pose have never been surpassed, nor have the feet, the hands, and the head, whose harmonious proportions and loveliness are in keeping with the rest. To be sure, anyone who has seen Michelangelo's David has no need to see anything else by any other sculptor, living or dead." Vasari was just as in love with Michelangelo’s work as the rest of us are. Simply amazing.