Over the course of history, from 1430 to 1623 A.D., this notorious story and David’s show of heroism in this famous battle would be reflected in the beauty of sculpture by three renowned artists. Through the talent of Donatello, Michelangelo, and Bernini, came three of the most legendary sculptures of the Biblical David. Even though considerably many were completed, the works of these three men exceed all others and have become spectacles that will exist eternally.

The foremost sculpture of David was the act of Donatello (c.1430). He was a famous Florentine artist and sculptor whose talent often mirrored the classical interest in the human body in motion and in articulating that body through the use of drapery. “The first life-size nude sculpture since antiquity, Donatello�

Finally, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, a pre-eminent baroque artist and sculptor, created a statue of David which is particularly different from those of Donatello and Michelangelo. Bernini’s David (c.1623A.D.) surmounts all in its representation of emotion. “This public sculpture has a face full of determination and struggling” (Goldenessays).

The David was itself, as everyone in the city of Florence knew a sculptural victory in its own right. Ultimately, Michelangelo’s David teaches us a very important lesson in the value of art. “Today we no longer value the sculpture for its politics but rather for its sheer aesthetic beauty and accomplishment. It teaches us how important aesthetic issues remain, even in the public arena” (Sayre, 69). Today, the statue attracts many visitors to the Academia Gallery in Florence.

“Michelangelo worked on a single piece of marble left over from an abandoned commission and out of this he carved his monolithic David” (Sayre, 454). This 4.1 meter marble statue was ordered as a symbol of the Florentine Republic and reveals the Biblical King at the instant that he chooses to seize Goliath. “It was to be a public piece, designed for outdoor display in the Piazza della Signoria, the plaza where public political meetings took place on a raised platform called the arringhiera” (Sayre, 68). In other words, the statue’s political context was very apparent. “It represented David’s triumph over the tyrant Goliath and was meant to symbolize Republic Florence, the city’s freedom from foreign and papal domination and from the rule of the Medici family as well” (Sayre, 68)

Although his studies of Greek and Roman statuary greatly influenced many of his works, Donatello contrastingly models his David after a barely developed adolescent boy whose arms appear weak due to a lack of muscles, instead of using a Greek youth in his prime. Donatello’s David invites its viewer to feel a sense of amazement by reflecting the seemingly impossibility of a young boy like David defeating such a giant. As David glances down towards his body, his personal skepticism in his ability to accomplish such a deed is revealed and affirms the viewer’s amazement. Donatello makes apparent in his David that the boy’s intellect, faith, and courage were the weapons needed to defeat Goliath and made up for his lack in build.

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