Michelangelo Contributions to The Renaissance: The Sculpture of David

During the period of the high renaissance, Michelangelo built the statue that concentrated in balance, harmony, and brevity. Michelangelo's contribution to the Renaissance can be summed up in his famous sculpture of David. In the beginning, the creator of the statue may not have been able to convince people of the naked statue to be that of the biblical hero. Still, when you observe the icon, David supports the sling on his left shoulder and holds a stone on his right hand. This item identifies explicitly David brought down the giant Goliath. The artist broke from the convention when he did not include the king's future fearsome foe in this sculpture. Many people also believe that Michelangelo made the sculpture unique by representing the legendary underdog in front of the battle, which is clearly shown by anxiety in the statue’s face. The figure can be mistaken as left-handed from the slingshot lies, but in strangely, his body position suggests he is right-handed.

The sculptor was also a sign of heroic resistance against the odds and was placed in an intense look and a stern warning to the enemies of the state. The placement of this statue changed many aspects of its significance from religious to political perspective.

The block of the marble, which is now one of the greatest masterminds, proves the old saying that one man's trash is becoming another man's best treasure. Michelangelo built the statue from a vast, marble that had been rejected by two other sculptors. Duccio was one of the artists who gave up on the sculpture and left it untouched for ten years after that. Another sculptor, Antonio, also took up the project but abandoned it after claiming that it was too much of a pain to work with the marble. When Michelangelo took up the challenge, the sculpture had been idle for almost twenty years untouched. The statue is also too huge to fit perfectly with the rest of the body, and this asymmetry is believed to be the artist’s clever nod to represent David’s symbol, a strong of hand.

After a long-contested debate, the sculpture was placed outside the government offices of Palazzo Della in Florence, which created a secure connection with the public mind. In the year 1494, the ruling family Medici was overthrown and exiled from Florence. Because of this, the new republic was under constant threat from the exiled family, the Medics, and the surrounding states. The medics later came into power again in 1512, making the state experience what biblical Israel feel. It is believed that the sculpture's wary gaze was pointed towards Rome. These political tensions led to the statue being attacked several times during its early days after installation. The protesters hit it with stones, and unfortunately, in the year 1527, a revolt against the ruling family saw its left arm being broken into three pieces. The statue has also experienced recent attacks. In 1991, an Italian artist Piero Cannata smashed the second toe of the left foot but was held up by the museum's visitors to prevent any further damage to the statue. He later claimed that he had been sent by the model of the Renaissance artist Paolo Veronese.

Symbolism and Ideology of the Sculpture

Correctly, the people believed that the artist based the statue on the representation of Hercules, who as Greek legend but had deep ties with the city of Florence and at one time had appeared seal of Florence for a very long time. By building the statue in the Roman tradition, Michelangelo assisted in ensuring that the people of Florence still embraced this work. Five years before the building of the statue of David, Michelangelo’s artistic work pieta made him famous. Still, it was this work of David that expounded the high renaissance artist as a master in sculpturing. After that, he was also given another project in the Sistine chapel.

The sculpture of David is also more than one. Since it is one of the greatest artistic works on the planet, there are reproductions of its symbol in t-shirts, shoes, and other mediums. Replicas of the same sculpture also exist. Florence has two of them. The original statue of David is placed in a museum while the full-sized model stands on its initial installation place in Pallazo Vecchio, and another one builds from bronze over the towers of the city from its perch on Piazzale Michelangelo.

As an independent state, the republic state of Florence was threatened continuously by other surrounding countries. They, therefore, viewed this sculpture as a perfect symbolic experience of Florence as it covered their unwavering courage and strength. Just as an armored David had defeated Goliath and beheaded him with his sword, the state believed it would defeat its enemies.

The ownership of this statue is also a very tricky question. The sculpture has been on display at the Florence Gallery since the year 1873. Nevertheless, as more tourists visited the place to view the wonder of this great work, the government of Italy began to have an interest in the ownership of this treasure. In 2010, they started a campaign to cement its claim that this marble statue belonged to them. There is an ongoing case in the court to determine the actual owner of this statue. This is also a new symbolic sign of modern David versus Goliath fight. The battle is for managing the cultural heritage from a city that has no culture.

Conclusion

The critical symbolic to the statue of David was meant to show a projection of man at his best work-beautiful, healthy, and competent.it depicts the heroic man and the universe associated with its success. Such success is of immeasurable worth to the artist who built this sculpture, whether he lived five hundred years ago or not. Unfortunately, the appreciation of this artwork has been left to the past. Presently, the intellectuals have once again viewed humanity as an ugly, corrupt, caught between the confused and incomprehensible universe and cannot control his destiny.

Additionally, human beings and their values are not considered a severe topic of art by the intellects. The sculpture of David thoroughly declines both the modernist's and Christian views and conceptions of humanity. The statue projects man as neither a murder nor a monster but as a brave and efficient being. David is the accurate representation of pure and heroic action.

In conclusion, Michelangelo was one of the most inspired sculptors of all time. He was an optimistic person who finished in his works before he moved on to the other. The portrait of David presented him as an educative person who acts as a role model for the people of his time and the present people. He is a true hero of youths having done most of his artistic work when he was still a youth.