More than a few visitors to Florence say they are Galleria dell'accademiaAnd once inside, in Michelangelo DavidThe most famous sculpture in the world. But how many of them are wondering, then take the time to see the other three Davids in this city alone? At BorgelloOnly ten minutes on foot, resident two other sculptures of the young man who would be the king of Israel and Judah, both by the colleague of the Renaissance of Michelangelo, Donatello. The least renamed, he made marble at the end of the fourteen hundred; most deemed, from bronze to fourteen quarters, is the subject of Smarthistory video at the top of the publication.
“For a thousand years, the Christian West had considered the soul as the place of concentration. The body was considered the path of corruption, and it should therefore not be celebrated,” said the host of the video Steven Zucker. “What we see here is a return to ancient Greece and the love of Rome for the body, its respect for the body.”
And to the Florentines of the middle of the 15th century, as the co-animator Beth Harris explains, this particular body was not only that of the “King David of the Bible”, but that of their own republic. Considering themselves as a victorious David type outsider on the Goliath who was the Duke of Milan, “they felt blessed and chosen by God” as the “heirs of the former Roman Republic”.
That most citizens of everyday Florentine republic knew it, the family of banking medicine, who effectively directed the place for centuries, must surely have. Also at the bargelo is another DavidIf they ordered, sculpted in bronze by Andrea del Verrocchio In the fourteen 1970s. “Verrocchio gave us a very sure young man,” explains Harris, with the beauty to predict a work of this kind, but also with a certain degree of anti-classical clumsiness of adolescents. In this, the work contrasts with Bernini, although the two artists created a victorious David, standing above Goliath's head. Michelangelo, of course, did things very differently Thirty years later, sculpting an out of the marble David knowing himself forever for the battle, when his colossal enemy appears.
Donatello, Verrocchio and Michelangelo DavidAll date from the Renaissance. The other indignable sculpture of this tradition was created much later, in the sixteen-twixing years, and also far from Florence. THE David By Gian Lorenzo BerniniWho would become synonymous with the dramatic extravagance of XVIIth century Rome, is “as a spring which is about to relax”, as Zucker says. Contrary to the contemplative declaration of Michelangelo, Harris adds: “Here, we are emotionally and involved bodily”, not only because of the action of action, but also of the obvious physical effort in front. It was the baroque era, when “the Catholic Church uses art as a means of asserting and strengthening the faith of believers”. Ideas on the goal of art may have changed during the four centuries since, but that has not stopped the least Davids to receive a constant flow of impressed visitors.
Related content:
Michelangelo David: The fascinating story behind the creation of Renaissance marble
Michelangelo participated in a competition to put a missing arm on Laocoön and his sons – and lost
How Michelangelo David Always attracts admiration and controversy today
The new video shows what could be the lost bronze sculptures and now found by Michelangelo
Based in Seoul, Colin MArshall Written and broadcastTS on cities, language and culture. His projects include the substack newsletter Books on cities And the book The stateless city: a walk through Los Angeles from the 21st century. Follow it on the social network formerly known as Twitter in @ColinmArshall.

At Learnopoly, Finn has championed a mission to deliver unbiased, in-depth reviews of online courses that empower learners to make well-informed decisions. With over a decade of experience in financial services, he has honed his expertise in strategic partnerships and business development, cultivating both a sharp analytical perspective and a collaborative spirit. A lifelong learner, Finn’s commitment to creating a trusted guide for online education was ignited by a frustrating encounter with biased course reviews.