A Day with David

Today was the last day of class and as a treat, we were able to sleep in. Since it typically gets really hot with the AC not working in the hotels and how loud people are, I can't sleep in very long but it was nice to just chill out for a minute.

The day started with a trip to Michelangelo's house. Fun fact: he never lived here. He bought it in 1508 and it was all about the prestige, to be a cut above the rest. Acquisitions of this sort were a big deal to him, maybe an obsession, because of the demand of his manual labor job. In addition, the prestige would be good because painting was seen as a high art form than sculpture (even though he kinda painted the Sistine Ceiling or whatever). 

Anyway, his great nephew took over the home (I'm pretty sure this is the nephew who stole his body too) and turned it into a monument or tribute to his uncle. He hired artists to create the scenes of Michelangelo's life. This nephew, Michelangelo the Younger, ended up helping Artemisia Gentileschi get her big break; what a homie. Not only did he hook her up to some big and powerful names, he hired her to paint a portion of the ceiling. This is what she did:

It is argued that this is Michelangelo's earliest piece. It is a relief carving called Madonna of the Steps and it was done around 1491 in a tribute to Donatello's style. It probably wasn't commissioned by anyone but was a good way to get his talent out there. He still had a lot to learn because the anatomy is pretty weird in this work. What's interesting is that the pose of the Christ child is very similar to a sculpture that he never had the chance to finish called Day. 

This is the Battle of the Centaurs done around 1492/93. It is unexpected because of how powerful and dynamic it is compared to his previous known work. Some scholars argue that he probably came back and re-worked this because of how similar it is to his older works.

Right after seeing Michelangelo's house we got some gelato, courtesy of Steve, and met back up after a little break to go see his David.

In 1499, Michelangelo returned to Florence, finally, as an absolute star. He had completed his Bacchus and the even more spectacular and more well known Pieta. It is not an overstatement to say that he was a Pretty Big DealTM. 

Michelangelo was commissioned to create a figure of the King David by some leaders of Florence. David is a popular subject in art for a few reasons. From the dawn of time, art was centered around religion. Since the Catholic church was ruling the world and had all the money, it is no wonder why so many European works of art are religious. David was done by many other artists, other big name artists, such as Donatello and da Vinci's teacher Verrocchio. David represented virtue over vice, good over evil. He was the perfect symbol of Florence beating the bad guys. David was also a warning to others trying to cross Florence. 

This specific piece of marble had been attempted to be carved by another artist about 40 years prior but because of a flaw, the stone was abandoned. This rock was given an immense reputation; people called it Goliath. It was the perfect subject for Michelangelo's genius. In order to work around the flaw, Michelangelo turned the figure slightly. In spite of the flaw, The David is truly incredible.

It took about 8 years to complete The David and several months were spent polishing it.This sculpture stands at 17 feet tall and weighs 5-7 tons. It was intended to be up way high on a pedestal but because of how massive it is, that just couldn't be accomplished. Since Michelangelo planned on the figure being up high, he made optical adjustments which would make the figure appear more proportional. With the figure not high up, he does seem just a little off, with a long torso, bigger head, and larger hands. 

The David was moved to the city square in the middle of the night with special rollers and a cage which allowed him to hang and would keep the figure safe. After walking the streets for the last two weeks, I think moving him was as much a work of art as the sculpture itself. There isn't a flat surface to be found! People nicknamed the sculpture "The Giant" due to its sheer size. The sculpture stayed in the square for about 360 years, exposed to the elements. His head got corroded and the surface was damaged. Eventually they moved him inside a museum made just for him and got him all cleaned up.

The figure is unexpected for a number of reasons. The first is that he isn't depicted as a king but rather a youth or some kid in their 20's. The second is that he is shown before the event of fighting Goliath. The intense stare indicates that the figure knows what task he needs to accomplish; he knows what he has to do. He is mature and athletic. The next is that the figure is nude. While a nude David had been done before, it wasn't to this scale and grandeur.

In the 1520's, there was a disturbance in the main piazza (or square) and people started fighting. The sculpture got damaged in the fight and the arm of David was knocked off. Legend has it that people were so shocked, they stopped fighting and went home while Michelangelo's assistants fixed it all up. In 1991, a madman took a hammer to the foot of the sculpture. Due to this, protective barriers have been enforced and some restoration work had to take place. Wires also run up the body of the sculpture in order to monitor the vibrations in the stone. This is done because a little while ago at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, after everyone left for the day, a Renaissance sculpture imploded on itself due to the weight. Modern science is doing everything it can to protect this work of art. 

Now we are going to talk about nudity. I've had a lot of people reach out to me and ask what the big deal is with nudity and I've been saving my answer for when we discussed the David because he is THE most known nude in the Western world. 

Nudity has historically been done as a way to praise and celebrate the greatest of God's creations; it was done to emulate and praise Him. In addition, an artist cannot properly paint, sculpt, etc the human form with clothes on if they do not understand the human form in its most basic shape. One must understand the bones, the muscles, and the skin. Once this can be accomplished, then the proportions and their form being depicted will be more successful. The human form is also done in art as a way to show the artist's talent. Other times, it is simply more emotional. While this isn't the case all the time, specifically with more modern works of art (but not all the nude forms in modern art are bad), it is certainly the case with the art I've been studying this last month. 

With this in mind, it is surely frustrating to be surrounded by people who make a big deal out of the nudity of The David. The sculpture is absolutely not about his genitalia at all. It is about the story, what he is symbolic of, and it at least should receive some praise for the work of the artist. This work of art shows the beauty of the human form given as a gift from God.

With all of these facts in mind, I was ready to see The David. I entered the museum, turned right, and at the end of the hall, was this absolutely massive, iconic work of art. I stopped dead in my tracks and just stared at it from about a dozen yards away. I knew I didn't want to hear anyone talking about his nudity so I brought my headphones and played Sleeping At Last's Atlas: Sun.

As I approached him, I was just in awe and tears started to stream down my face. After standing right in front of him for the longest time, I took a few steps to the right and stood there for a long time. I finally made it to the back where the benches were where I recorded a few of my thoughts while still crying or whatever.

David was a small guy. Nobody believed that he could accomplish the task that nobody else could do. By the Grace of God and all the miracles of the world, David was triumphant over Goliath. The image is David before the triumph yet he is endowed with the power of God. Michelangelo made him as big as he needed to be in order to succeed. The size he would have been with the gift of God. Michelangelo give this image of David the power he needed to succeed. Art gives the world the power it needs to survive. We face impossible odds. Art works like this show that success can be met; the task can be done. Over and over again, we need God's help. There isn't a way to make it through the challenge before us without Him. With His help, we can be 17 feet tall like this David if that is what it takes to rise triumphant.

This is a picture that Steve took. I thought it was so cool and I wanted to share that will the blog!

Here are some details of the figure.

This is an unfinished sculpture by Michelangelo. I can't believe he was so good!

After I stopped crying and took a little break, we met up as a class to check out the exhibition on Verrocchio, da Vinci's teacher. The exhibition was done in commemoration of da Vinci's 500th anniversary of his death (there isn't a good way to word this sentence). By this point, I was so tired from having emotions that I was just dragging. I loved the museum, but I need less feelings.

This is Young Woman with a Primrose by Verrocchio. This sculpture had immense impact especially on da Vinci. The delicacy of the hands and fabric would be used in just about all of DV's future work's of art. 

This is a sketch, possibly by DV, of his own primerose girl! The original painting was cut so it doesn't have hands but if the painting had hands included, this is what it probably looked like.

Hold onto your hats, kids, here is another David, this time by Verrocchio. Done in the 1470's, he was smaller than earlier David's and shown as an aristocrat. There is speculation that this was an early portrait of DV. At the feet is a very violent depiction of Goliath. NOT FOR ME. 

Throughout the exhibit were works of art by artists who were influenced by Verrochio; Botticelli was one of them! This is one of his paintings of the Madonna.

The rest of the day, I just trailed after other people as they did their shopping. I was too tired to do anything else!

Tomorrow we have our final exam and all next week is just going to be fun stuff as a class in Venice. I cannot believe my time in Italy is coming to a close. This has been the most rewarding, incredible experience I have ever had. It is learning at hyper-speed. Everything makes sense, learning it in context. I have had the opportunity to answer art questions for students who aren't art history majors or are just starting out in the major. I might not know exactly which step I should take in my professional career, but being here has confirmed that this is the right thing for me. I haven't screamed or anything looking at works of art. These last few weeks, I have been surrounded by these pieces and have found a home. It's like I was meant to be around such incredible artifacts all along.