King David: Donatello Di Betto Bardi

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Recommended: An essay about David in the bible

David was believed to be born around 1040 BC as the youngest of eight sons. His father, Jesse, was approached by the Prophet Samuel to find a replacement for Saul as the Ruler of Israel. As Jesse showed his first seven sons to Samuel, how did not believe any to be fitting of the next King of Israel, God Spoke to Samuel (Spiro)
Do not look at his countenance and at his tall stature, for I have rejected him. For it is not as man perceives it; a man sees what is visible to the eyes but God sees into the heart. (King James Version, 1 Samuel 16:7)
At this time Jesse brought out his youngest son, David. Samuel knew at once that this boy of 15 would be the future King of Israel.
At this period in time the Philistines were at war with the Israelites. …show more content…

He began his working career working for a goldsmith. It is here that he learned to work with metal and what would lead to a career full of successes. Later in Donatello’s career he began to get away from the Gothic style of sculptures, however, early in his career he retained some of his training in artistry (Artble).
One of, if not the earliest sculpture by Donatello was David. Commissioned by Cosimo de’Medici to be housed in the Palazzo Medici. While is contained some of the design elements seen in earlier forms of art with the long graceful proportions and ornamentation, it was radical in several ways. Most paintings and sculpture of David up to Donatello’s time were representing the King David, King of Israel. Contrasting this, Donatello’s David was youthful, following the biblical story of David being very young. More surprisingly than the age difference of past David depictions, was that Donatello’s David was nude. Up to this point nudity was generally used to display biblical events were nudity was already a given, such as many examples of the story of Adam and Eve (Itlalianrenaissance.org. However, this David began a shift towards the Humanism

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