Happy Friday!
I hope you had a good week!
Today is the birth anniversary of Michelangelo. Like Cher, Madonna, Beyoncé, Prince, Pelé and Elvis, the last name is not necessary. But he had one: Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni. Michelangelo is much easier although it is often mispronounced. Mih-kil-an-juh -lo. Short "i". Not Michael-angelo. Bravo.
One cannot cover this great Italian artist, sculptor, painter, architect and poet in 2 single-spaced pages. I will restrain myself to one of his greatest and most famous works: David.
Michaelangelo was born in 1475 in the Republic of Florence near Tuscany, but most of his work was done in Rome. His mother died when he was 6 and Michelangelo lived with a nanny and her husband who was a stonecutter, an experience that developed his love for working with marble. He was sent to Florence to study where he shunned school to draw and paint, studying with a master in fresco painting, portraiture and figure drawing. He took up sculpting in 1490 and worked in Lorenzo de' Mecici court on commissioned works. When de' Medici died in 1492, Michelangelo returned to his father's house and studied anatomy by dissecting cadavers. He carved a very large marble statue of Hercules from ages 18-20, moved to Venice, then Bologna and returned to Florence, where he worked on smaller statues. He arrived in Rome at age 21 and was commissioned to carve Bacchus, and a Pietà (the Virgin Mary holding the dead body of Jesus) from a block of black marble at age 24 (now in St. Peter's Basilica, it's incredible), and returned to Florence in 1944 to carve David, which he completed at age 29.
David, the first colossal marble statue made in the high Renaissance period and the first since classical antiquity, is 17 feet (5.17 m) tall and made of Carrara marble. The initial plan was to commission a series of 12 large sculptures of Hebrew Biblical prophets to support the weight of the dome of the new Cathedral of Florence. Donatello made the first, Joshua, in terracotta, painted/finished the surface to look like marble. His protégé, Agostino, was contracted to sculpt David in marble in 1464. Agostina picked out the block of marble himself from Carrara and started work on David but was only able to shape the torso, legs and feet before halting work when Donatello died in 1466. Antolio Rossellino of Florence was commissioned to continue the piece, but the contract was rescinded and the block of marble sat outside in the yard of the cathedral exposed to the elements for 25 years!
It turned up in an inventory in 1500 as "a certain figure of marble called David, badly blocked out and supine." The Operai del Duomo, the organization in charge of construction and maintenance of the new cathedral, ordered the block of stone to be "raised on its feet" so the prominent sculptors of the day could examine it and opine as to its future. Among others, Leonardo da Vinci was consulted but Michelangelo got the commission at age 26, to bring David "to perfection", with a completion timetable of 2 years. He started work a month after signing the contract. However, all was not well – although Michelangelo had the site under guard to protect it from vandalism, four youths from prominent families were arrested after damaging the sculpture with stones; their marks are still visible today.
Preparatory work included sketches, drawings and constructing small models. Michelangelo's goal was to sculpt the marble to reveal the ideal form within, or liberating figures that already existed in the stone which he could visualize in his mind. The marble was not of the highest grade and Michelangelo needed scaffolding to reach every part. He made his own chisels (toothed, not flat). David's hair and pupils were made using a taprano, a drill worked with a bow, like the ancient sculptors used.
Michelangelo's David is thought to represent him prior to his battle with Goliath, sizing up his opponent and holding his sling. He is twisted with most of his weight on his right foot and his left foot forward, giving the impression that he is about to move. This pose was often incorporated in ancient Greek statues of heroic male nudes. David has an unusually large head and hands (the opposite of what you thought was coming next and, indeed, those parts are small, almost pubescent). Part of the reason for this is perspective – he was supposed to be viewed from below. Although the real David was circumcised, the statue is not, in keeping with conventional Renaissance art.
In January 1504, the Florentine authorities admitted that David could not be raised to stand on the roof of the cathedral and convened a committee to decide where to locate him. In June 1504, David ended up next to the entrance of the Palazzo della Signoria, taking 4 days to move him the half mile from the workshop. It took more than 40 men to transport him on greased logs. The original display included a large leaf to cover his private parts.
Small cracks were noted on his left leg in the mid-1800s, so he was moved to the Accademia Gallery for protection and to attract visitors. It took almost 2 weeks to move him. The base from the 16th century, which was not in good shape, was lost when the crate was disassembled (the replacement pedestal was an artistic and architectural advancement as well). David was placed in his permanent setting in 1882 when architect Emilop De Fabris, professor at the Accademia, designed a tribune to house him in a vaulted semicircular recess (exedra) below the dome, bathed in light from surrounding windows. A replica was placed in the Piazza Della Signoria in 1910 (don't settle for imitations – see the real thing!).
A deranged artist attacked the statue in 1991, damaging the second toe of the left foot with a hammer that he smuggled inside. Scientists studied samples of the broken fragments and found that the marble was entirely made of calcite. Since 2000, David has been monitored and evaluated using high-resolution 3D scanning, photogrammetry, finite element method (FEM) analysis and fracture monitoring. There are some cracks in his legs, likely from a slight forward inclination that developed after a flood in 1844, causing him to be a few degrees off center. Being moved several times didn't help either. There are also cracks in the tree trunk that the right leg rests against.
The statue was given its first major cleaning on its 500th birthday in 2004. It receives meticulous but gentle care and continuous conservation efforts. Every 2 months, temporary scaffolding is erected for a dusting and vacuuming that take ½ day to complete.
It is estimated that nearly 1.5 million people visit The Accaedmia Gallery each year to see David, with Tuesday being the peak attendance day (about 4000 people visit each day that it is open). It is one of the best known and frequently reproduced of all works made in Florence. My mom had a small replica on the enclosed patio of her condo in Florida (I am not sure who inherited it, but it wasn't me.). David is on my bucket list, and I am hoping to see him this year!
I initially planned to also cover the story of the Sistine Chapel today but, alas, it will have to wait for another Friday. It happens to be under restoration now to remove sweat damage from tourists! (As sweat evaporates, dries and condenses, the lactic acid in the sweat reacts with calcium carbonate on the walls and creates a residue.)
Have a marvelous weekend!
Deb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fVND8C1myg
P.s. There are many books about Michelangelo. If you like historical fiction, I enjoyed Oil and Marble by Stephanie Storey. It covers the lives and rivalry between Michelangelo and Di Vinci when they both lived and worked in Florence.