Gian Lorenzo Bernini, David, marble, 1623-24 (Galleria Borghes)
Above is Bernini’s famous statue of the Biblical character David in the midst of defeating the giant, Goliath. Unlike most Davids that preceded Bernini’s, which depicted the battle as being finished, Bernini depicts David as the battle is just beginning. David is tense, readying his sling and biting his lip in anticipation of the battle which is about to commence. Although one of Bernini’s predecessors, Michelangelo also carved David preparing for battle, Bernini was able to capture an intensity and pure anticipation of battle that Michelangelo, in my opinion, was lacking.
The statue of Bernini’s David, that we see above, is drenched with symbolism. The armor is thrown to the ground beside David, as is mentioned in the Bible. The partially buried harp, although it is not in the Biblical story of David, does have many personal and religious meanings. One possible meaning could be, “Sometimes you have to set aside the things that you’ve become familiar with in order to step into a place where you are truly needed.” These symbolic references I believe are due to the influence of the Council of Trent which believed that art should give spiritual and biblical reference and that the references should be visible to all manner of people. Analysts and critics of Khan academy agree saying that some of the symbolism behind Bernini’s David expressed “the way the church itself felt as they were battling against Luther.”
My purpose for choosing this piece is not because of its popularity, but because I feel that Bernini far surpassed his predecessor’s attempts at creating a David that the world could see by creating a David that the world could relate to. Bernini captured the intensity of battle, which I had not seen in any other before and he was able to keep the entire statue very real and masterfully balanced within the form of realism. But by far my favorite thing about this piece is the amount of skillfully placed symbolism, that not only briefly summarizes the story of David, but also has relevant and personal meanings for every individual viewer.
I am honestly interested in what you – the other viewers – translate the meanings of the symbolism in this piece. Please leave a comment of your own interpretation if you feel comfortable.
Works Cited:
Bernini,Gian Lorenzo, David, marble, 1623-24 (Galleria Borghese, Rome). Web. February 19, 2013.
Nate's Thoughts 
I think you did an excellent job! I loved your interpretation of the art piece. I also agree that his David surpasses the other David’s. Your factual information looks good. I can tell you felt passionate about this piece of artwork in your writing. I think you successfully connected this piece of work with the Council of Trent. Your citations are great as well. My reaction is your did an excellent job!
This is a very well written piece. I agree with your interpretation of the statue and am amazed to see that this was very thoughtful. Wonderful job!
I can’t believe the detail work so nicely done on this particular piece, I have never seen this david statue before other than the one by Michelangelo. I also like your interpretation of the piece. In this piece I see a confident David as he placed his faith in god. Good job as well as excellent observation.
Nice blog article! I enjoyed reading the interpretation of the piece, how this symbolically ties itself with the Council of Trent preparing for a battle against the reformation by engaging in counter-reformation. I personally like all the depictions of David similarly, as they each kind of encompass a theme that was present in the time (like emphasis on the male anatomy and such in the counterparts). I do like the physical portrayal in this piece, it does convey a visual representation of what Bernini pictured of this biblical story. I also like how you cited Khan Academy, they have such amazing commentary on art. I guess I must ask, why do you feel David is more clothed in this piece than the others? Do you feel the Council of Trent had influenced this?
Great Blog on Bernini’s David! In comparing it to the other “David’s” I also found that this was the only one that still “in” the battle, whereas the others were depicted as having already finished. It allows me to visualize what is happening in the space surrounding David, sort of creating my own mental image of the battle.
I completely agree with your statement, “My purpose for choosing this piece is not because of its popularity, but because I feel that Bernini far surpassed his predecessor’s attempts at creating a David that the world could see by creating a David that the world could relate to.” I feel that there is so much more detail in this statue for us to relate to. Not that it was necessarily easy for Michelangelo to depict David after the battle, but there is just so much more detail in Bernini’s “David” that it’s definitely my favorite out of the three.
I love your choice of art for this assignment! Everything you said about the symbolism really got me thinking and looking more closely at the statue.
I am glad you chose to do your assignment on Bernini; I have been completely fascinated by his work and found myself quite obsessed with researching his sculptures as well. He truly knew how to breathe life into stone, didn’t he? Look at the concentrated stare across David’s face: poignant, concentrated, dramatic. And then the anatomy itself only layers on to Bernini’s grandiose take on the human figure; his body is twisted up and tense. It’s so realistic that I can’t believe it is marble. It’s absolutely stunning.
Your post was extremely informative on expanding upon the symbolism of this statue as well as the influences the Council of Trent had upon Bernini’s work. Thank you for sharing an excellent blog!
I like this statue of David, because like mentioned by you, it was created in the middle of an action. I find it amusing the detail of his facial expression, showing you how he felt while going into battle. I enjoyed reading yoru explanation of the symbolism in this piece of art. I learned alot from your blog about David and Bernini, it was very well detailed and described.
Thanks