Michelangelo V Bernini

            Artistic style has evolved over time while trends carried on through generations of creativity. The high Renaissance, for example, explored classicism in art and embraced human anatomy beginning a style called humanism. This carried over into a later period known as the Southern Baroque style. Two works of art that have the same subject matter but were created by different artists from each time period are the sculptures of David by Michelangelo of the Renaissance and Bernini of the Baroque time.   

            Firstly, Michelangelo’s David was executed in a time of perfection. Artists like him living in the high renaissance celebrated the human body and idealized figures portrayed in art. With this version of David, the viewer gets a real sense of naturalism by Michelangelo’s use of “contraposto”. This exaggerated shift of weight was popular during this time to create a more naturalistic feel in the work. Despite this true to life image, David was idealized and his body type makes the piece seem less realistic. On the other hand, David was a heroic biblical figure and is therefore being celebrated and praised as an ideal man. His body looks hard to the touch not because of the marble that it was carved from, but from the muscles that Michelangelo sculpted; his veins are even visible in his arms. This depiction of David is completely nude and shows no embarrassment or attempt to hide himself from the viewer. His hair is stylized into little perfect locks of hair. His stance gives the impression that defeating Goliath was an easy task and now he is simply soaking up the glory. All of this is evidence of idealism being paired with naturalism to create a more harmonious composition.    

            Bernini’s David on the other hand, expresses something a bit more dramatic. Like Bernini, artists of the Southern Baroque period drew attention to movement and drama in their works. He still kept the classical idealism and mythological background; however he captured these styles and images at the height of the action. Rather than standing tall, his David is depicted in the action of hurling his weapon over his shoulder to destroy Goliath. There is so much movement emphasized in this sculpture and is evident by the diagonals created by David’s arms, legs and the rope between his hands. Bernini has drawn the viewer into David’s environment by establishing the curiosity of wanting to look at the sculpture from all angles. One of the biggest differences in Bernini’s David as opposed to Michelangelo’s is that Bernini placed a piece of drapery over David’s genitals. This is important because during this time of the catholic counter-reformation, it was necessary to conceal nudity in art to encourage decency. Most art created at this time served the sole purposes of instructing the faithful and realigning those with the Catholic Church by stirring an emotional response from the work. Bernini made this sculpture of David for the nephew of Pope Paul V which was appropriate because David was a heroic and influential biblical figure. Although this depiction of David is also stylized in terms of his figure and hair, his facial expression is something that really contrasts that of Michelangelo’s version. It is said that Bernini used himself as a reference for this sculpture, which gives it a more dramatic feel because of the expression he used. Instead of the serene, lost-in-thought expression that the former David wore, the latter is portraying his aggression and fear through his facial expression, making it all the more dramatic.

            These are two fantastic sculptures by two very talented artists and it is interesting to see how the same figure can be translated two different ways in different art movements.