Michelangelo's bronze David: its ancestry and progeny - David Ekserdjian

Duration: 23 mins 10 secs

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Description:	Michelangelo’s bronze David, which was sent to France at the time of its manufacture in the first decade of the sixteenth century, and disappeared in the nineteenth, may in theory still exist. However, the only really reliable guide as to its appearance is a powerful but summary autograph drawing by the artist, now in the Louvre. My paper will begin by addressing the issue of possible visual sources for the bronze David, both from classical antiquity and from fifteenth-century Florence. It will then proceed to identify no fewer than six works of art dating from the first half of the sixteenth century, variously drawings and paintings, that reflect its design, and therefore seem to support the notion that some form of record of the invention - and presumably a more finished one than the Louvre drawing - remained in Italy after the sculpture's departure for France, and was accessible to other artists.

Description:

Michelangelo’s bronze David, which was sent to France at the time of its manufacture in the first decade of the sixteenth century, and disappeared in the nineteenth, may in theory still exist. However, the only really reliable guide as to its appearance is a powerful but summary autograph drawing by the artist, now in the Louvre. My paper will begin by addressing the issue of possible visual sources for the bronze David, both from classical antiquity and from fifteenth-century Florence. It will then proceed to identify no fewer than six works of art dating from the first half of the sixteenth century, variously drawings and paintings, that reflect its design, and therefore seem to support the notion that some form of record of the invention - and presumably a more finished one than the Louvre drawing - remained in Italy after the sculpture's departure for France, and was accessible to other artists.


Created:	2016-08-08 12:25
Collection:	A Michelangelo Discovery Symposium - Monday 6 July
Publisher:	Fitzwilliam Museum
Copyright:	Fitzwilliam Museum
Language:	eng (English)

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