David (Florence, Italy) : Head, left side looking up [replica, 1910]
- Creator:
- Michelangelo Buonarroti, 1475-1564
- Published/Created:
- Florence, Tuscany, Italy
1501-1504 - Physical Description:
- 14 ft (height)
- Date Depicted:
- 5/1/1996
1500 AD - 1699 AD - Materials:
- marble
- Notes:
- The marble block used for the David had been roughed out and abandoned by Agostino del Duccio and Michelangelo was thus required to work within predetermined constraints. Some peculiarities of the work, such as the relative shallowness of the lateral views of the figure, may be due to the existing shape of the marble; Vasari claimed that the splayed legs were determined by earlier piercing of the block. The work's significance does not lie in its technical ingenuity, however. The David is the first of Michelangelo's surviving depictions of the heroic male nude in which the entire emotional charge is carried by the articulation and twist of the body and limbs against the head. Stripped of all attributes but the minimal sling, this David carries no sword, and not even the head of Goliath distracts from his stark nudity. [To protect it from damage, the sculpture was moved in 1873 to the Accademia in Florence. A replica was placed in the Piazza della Signoria in 1910.]
- Topics:
- Sculpture -- Italy -- 16th century -- (YVRC)
- Period/Style:
- Renaissance
- Culture:
- Italian
- Accession Number:
- 1A1-MB-D-E3
- Genre:
- sculpture (AAT)
- Format:
- Image
- Content Type:
- Sculptures, Models, & Architecture
- Rights:
- Copyright Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc
The use of this image may be subject to the copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) or to site license or other rights management terms and conditions. The person using the image is liable for any infringement. - Access Restrictions:
- Yale Community Only
- Digital:
- Old Testament and Apocrypha carving visual works; sculpture (visual work)
- Source Creator:
- Gilchrist, Scott
- Source Title:
- Archivision Base Collection
- Source Created:
- 2878 Chamonix, Montreal QC
Archivision, Inc.
5/1/1996 - Source Note:
- Purchase, Visual Resources Collection, May, 2011; photographer Scott Gilchrist
- Yale Collection:
- Visual Resources Collection
- Digital Collection:
- Visual Resources Collection
- Local Record Number:
- 4152
- OID:
- 10090276
- PID:
- digcoll:1848187