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Donatello's David set to return - Restoration Work Almost Over - UPDATE

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Bianca
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« on: November 20, 2008, 09:21:36 am »


                                  



                       
« Last Edit: November 28, 2008, 05:23:57 pm by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

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Bianca
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« Reply #1 on: November 20, 2008, 09:28:13 am »










            Donatello's David set to return - Restoration work on Renaissance sculpture almost over






 (ANSA) -
Florence,
November 19 - 2008

The first major work of Renaissance sculpture, Donatello's bronze of David, is nearing the end of a complex restoration process. The statue will be unveiled to the public during an inauguration ceremony on November 28 in Florence at the Bargello Museum.

The final phase of the 18-month restoration has seen the famed statue entirely closed off to visitors because of the sensitive tools being used. Technological innovations have been used throughout the process, such as laser combs invented specially to swipe clean the delicate gold leaf that decorates parts of the work.

The 200,000-euro project followed a major check-up on the state of the work, carried out early in 2007. The David was subjected to X-rays and a range of other more sophisticated diagnostic tests. Most experts believe Donatello (1386-1466) sculpted the sensuous work in the 1440s.

It depicts David standing with one foot on Goliath's severed head. Apart from a hat and a pair of boots, David is naked. At the time of its creation, it was probably the first free standing bronze **** since ancient times and it caused a sensation.

The almost feminine physique contrasts with Michelangelo's powerful, masculine depiction of the biblical figure, sculpted between 1500 and 1504.

It is also very different from Donatello's earlier marble version - created around 1412 - in which David is clothed.

Donatello, whose full name was Donato di Niccolo' di Betto Bardi, was the son of a Florentine woolcomber. As a teenager, he worked in the studio of noted sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti.

Later, he travelled to Rome with the great architect Filippo Brunelleschi to study the monuments of antiquity.

Donatello's dramatic departure from stylised Gothic art is credited with kick-starting the Renaissance.

The Florentine sculptor even anticipated the use of perspective that is often thought a painterly invention - as can be seen in his early bas relief of St George and the Dragon on Florence's Orsanmichele church.

Other major Donatello works include a grim prophet called Habbakuk - or popularly, Zuccone (big head) - on Florence's Duomo and an equestrian warlord in Padua called the Gattamelata.
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Bianca
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« Reply #2 on: November 20, 2008, 09:31:29 am »











Donatello's bronze statue of David (circa 1440s) is notable as the first unsupported standing work in bronze cast during the Renaissance period, and the first freestanding **** male sculpture made since antiquity. It created a sensation when it was first shown, due to its portrayal of the **** young male. It depicts the young David with
an enigmatic smile, posed with his foot on Goliath's severed head just after killing the giant. The youth is standing naked, apart from a laurel-topped hat and boots, bearing the sword of Goliath.

The exact date of creation is unknown, but widely disputed, and dates vary between 1430 and the more accepted 1440s.  Donatello had made a marble statue of David in 1408/1409, though this figure was a well-dressed and victorious king holding his sling, having slain the giant, Goliath's head resting between his feet.

The physical frailty and effeminate physique, which Mary McCarthy called "a transvestite's and fetishist's dream of alluring ambiguity," contrasted with the absurdly large sword by his side shows that David has conquered Goliath not by physical prowess, but through the will of God. The boy's nakedness further enhances the idea of the presence of God, contrasting the youth with the heavily-armoured giant. The fact that 'David' is standing contrapuntally suggests that Goliath did not pose a threat to him.

The statue originally belonged to Cosimo de' Medici, and was placed in the courtyard of the Palazzo Medici in Florence. After the expulsion of Piero de' Medici, it was confiscated, and ordered placed in the courtyard of the Palazzo della Signoria. It is now in the Bargello. There is a full-size plaster cast (with a broken sword) in the
Victoria and Albert Museum, London.




Other subsequent noted Italian statues of David are by


Andrea del Verrocchio,

Michelangelo, and

Bernini.




Retrieved from:

wikipedia.org
« Last Edit: November 20, 2008, 09:41:04 am by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Bianca
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« Reply #3 on: November 28, 2008, 05:19:31 pm »

               



             









                                                          Donatello's David returns


                                    Renaissance masterpiece back after 18- month restoration






 (ANSA)
 - Florence,
November 28, 2008 -

The first major work of Renaissance sculpture, Donatello's bronze of David, was unveiled Friday after an
18-month restoration.

The dainty figure was lifted off a special bed where it has been brushed up with the help of high-tech tools
like laser 'combs'.

It has reclaimed pride of place at Florence's famed Bargello Museum and will be accompanied for the first year of its renewed term by a copy showing how it looked when it was first cast and resplendent with gold leaf. During the final phase of the restoration the statue was closed off to visitors because of the sensitive - and potentially dangerous - tools being used by restorer Ludovica Nicolai.

Technological innovations were used throughout the process, such as the laser combs invented specially to swipe clean the delicate gold leaf that still partially decorates the work.

The 200,000-euro project followed a major check-up on the state of the work, carried out early in 2007.
The David was subjected to X-rays and a range of other more sophisticated diagnostic tests.

Most experts believe Donatello (1386-1466) sculpted the sensuous work in the 1440s.

It depicts David standing with one foot on Goliath's severed head. Apart from a hat and a pair of boots,
David is naked.

At the time of its creation, it was probably the first free standing bronze **** since ancient times and it caused a sensation.

The almost feminine physique contrasts with Michelangelo's powerful, masculine depiction of the biblical figure, sculpted between 1500 and 1504.

It is also very different from Donatello's earlier marble version - created around 1412 - in which David is clothed.

Donatello, whose full name was Donato di Niccolo' di Betto Bardi, was the son of a Florentine woolcomber.

As a teenager, he worked in the studio of noted sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti.

Later, he travelled to Rome with the great architect Filippo Brunelleschi to study the monuments of antiquity.

Donatello's dramatic departure from stylised Gothic art is credited with kick-starting the Renaissance.

The Florentine sculptor even anticipated the use of perspective that is often thought a painterly invention -
as can be seen in his early bas relief of St George and the Dragon on Florence's Orsanmichele church.

Other major Donatello works include a grim prophet called Habbakuk - or popularly, Zuccone (big head) -
on Florence's Duomo and an equestrian warlord in Padua called the Gattamelata.
« Last Edit: November 28, 2008, 05:23:07 pm by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
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