Many existing biblical stories became extremely popular during the Italian

Renaissance, and would therefore be constantly represented in artists of the time’s work. A

memorable one that at the time was seen as a “symbol of a weaker power triumphing over a

mighty power”* was that of David and the Goliath. This is the famous tale of a young

peasant, David, that courageously and unarmed defeated the terrifying King of Israel

Goliath, and immediately became a model figure to the Hebrews.* Several artists such as

Donatello, Verrocchio, Michelangelo and Bernini, produced sculptures of the grand David

between the Renaissance and the Early Barroque. Nonetheless, the two Davids that are

known to stand out the most were made by Donatello …show more content…
Unlike his first David, his second one was done in bronze later in his career

from 1430 to 1440. Scholars believe that the only other David sculture that can be compared

to Donatello’s was done by Michelangelo ( shown in IMAGE 2) . Actually, these two artist

together were considered the greatest florentine sculptors of all times. In fact,

Michelangello’s work is highly influenced by Donatello’s which he admired greatly. As an

artist, he closely studied human anatomy; he would in some cases disect corpses in order to

learn more about the structures of muscles and bones*. Michelangelo’s David was also

revolutionary for its time. In his case it was the colossal size of his David that struck the

public the most. It was the first time that a large scaled nude statue was made since

Antiquity.

IMAGE 1 IMAGE 2

Donatello’s David (1425 -1430) Michelangelo’s David (1501-