Comparison of Early Renaissance and High Renaissance:Donatello's David and Michelangelo's David

The Early and High Renaissance have established themselves as some of the most important periods in art history. With the leading center of the Renaissance in 15th-century Italy being Florence and the art and architecture of the 16th-century being built on the foundation of the Early Renaissance, each period are directly related in regards to the art that was produced during the times. To explore some differences and comparisons between the art produced during each period, Donatello’s David and Michelangelo’s David will be examined. Donatello and Michelangelo’s sculptures share similar subject matter, use different materials, yet, comparatively, the artists are directly inspired by different artistic movements.

To begin, the use of perspective systems in relief sculpture and painting was acquired by Quattrocento artists who found a way to make the illusion of distance certain and consistent. The incredibly successful use of linear perspective represents only one aspect of the Renaissance revival of classical principles and values in the arts; another was the revival of the freestanding nude statue. With the first Renaissance sculptor to portray the nude male figure in statuary form being Donatello, he likely cast his bronze David sometime between 1440 and 1460. Donatello cast this bronze statue for display in the courtyard of the Medici palace in Florence. During the Middle Ages, the clergy viewed nude statues as indecent and idolatrous and nudity in general appeared rarely in medieval art. Nudity in medieval art was only available in biblical or moralizing context, yet Donatello reinvented the classical nude with his statue of David. The artist’s subject, David, was not a Greco-Roman god, hero, or athlete, but instead, the youthful biblical slayer of Goliath. The biblical slayer had become the symbol of the Florentine Republic, and therefore an ideal choice of subject for the residence of the most powerful family in Florence. The Medici’s selection of David as the subject suggests that the family identified themselves with Florence or possibly shared Florence’s ideals and the desire for freedom and independence. Donatello’s David displays a relaxed classical stance and the proportions and sensual beauty of the gods; these qualities were completely absent from medieval figures.

Moving forward, the High Renaissance displayed a classical style and an interest in Greco-Roman culture, perspective, proportion, and human anatomy; this style dominated the remainder of the 16th-century. Michelangelo, an artist during the period, was not only an incredibly famous painter, but also an architect, poet, engineer, and sculptor. The artist considered sculpture superior to painting because the sculptor shares in the divine power to “make man”. In 1495, the Florentine Republic ordered the transfer of Donatello’s David from the Medici residence to the Palazzo della Signoria to join Verrocchio’s David. It was important that David was viewed as a civic symbol, and this led the Florence Cathedral building committee to invite Michelangelo to work a large block of marble into another David for the Republic.

The statue was colossal and was oftentimes referred to as “the Giant”. Michelangelo’s David was created to stand on one of the cathedral’s buttresses, but it was deemed too beautiful to be displayed at such a large distance. Michelangelo decided to represent the young biblical warrior before his encounter with the giant, with the subject sternly watching his approaching enemy.

Additionally, the anatomy of David’s body plays an important part in this prelude to action. The subject’s fit torso, sturdy arms and legs, and large hands and feet alert viewers to the victory to come. Michelangelo definitely had the classical nude in mind in regards to inspiration and style. The artist also admired Greco-Roman statues, particularly the skillful and precise rendering of the heroic physique. Michelangelo’s David differs from Donatello’s in the same way that later Hellenistic statues departed from their Classical predecessors.

Michelangelo differed from the self-contained compositions of the 15th-century by dramatically turning the subject’s head toward his gigantic opponent. Michelangelo’s David is compositionally and emotionally connected to an unseen being beyond the sculpture, commonly seen in Hellenistic sculpture. Overall, the artist invested his efforts in creating towering, repressed emotion, rather than calm and ideal beauty.

In conclusion, it is safe to say that both statues share a lot in common. With Donatello and Michelangelo sharing David, the young biblical figure who slays the giant Goliath, as their subject matter, and classical nudity being a main source of inspiration, the pieces are quite similar. However, in regards to style, Donatello’s piece displays a much more serene aesthetic while Michelangelo’s David portrays a towering subject with pent-up anger. The two statues also differ in material, Donatello uses bronze in his depiction of David, whereas Michelangelo carved the colossal statue out of marble. Altogether, each statue is magnificent and awe inspiring, successfully achieving what each artist intended.