Homosexuality of Donatello\'s David PDF

Preview

Summary

Notes covering my lecture and relevant further research for that week. ...

Description

Donatello’s bronze David was a particularly enigmatic piece for Renaissance Florence. Earlier depictions of the same subject are rare - even Donatello’s previous marble version is starkly contrasted [how?]. > The former is clothed, exhibiting an upward gaze which suggests pride and self achievement. The bronze rendition however is presented as effeminate, childlike and serene. I will argue that the stylistic qualities, method of production and civic locations of this sculpture promoted the contemporary civic ideals of humanism, platonism and reverence for antiquity. The date of Donatello’s bronze David is the subject of much scholarly debate. This ambiguity, and that of its stylistic sources, are attributed to its completely undocumented creation. Estimations usually place its date around 1434, though others, namely Kauffman and Pope-Hennessy, claim it was commissioned for the Palazzo Medici, which only begun in 14441. Indeed, the first documentation of the sculpture was in 1469 by eye-witness accounts, placing it in the Palazzo2. McHam attests to Medici patronage, claiming, ‘it was most likely executed in the late 1450s or early 1460s and commissioned by either Cosimo or Piero de’ Medici’ 3. This theory would correspond to the visual characteristics of the sculpture, as the humanist and platonic values of the Medici family are characterized through David. The sexuality of david is explored by Greenhalgh: Because the youth’s nakedness is accentuated by helmet and boots, perhaps Donatello intended the naked body to have sexual overtones … it has distinctly and exclusively female characteristics … with the left-hand wing of Goliath’s helmet, which steals surreptitiously up into the crotch.

The homo-eroticism outlined here is testament to platonic teachings. David was to be a symbol for the city after the consistent plights imposed to the city by Milan throughout the 1400s. It was a pertinent image; David had incredibly overcome tyranny in Goliath, as Florence had overcome tyranny from the Milanese. When we consider David’s homo-erotic aspect in light of this, and the prevailing interest of the Medici in Platonic teachings, we are lead to the conclusion that David is the physical representation of Platonic love. We know that, through close contact with Cosimo, Donatello was acquainted with antique literature[CITE- SCHNEIDER]. Schneider outlines two themes in Plato’s Symposium which seem particularly influential to Donatello’s production: In Phaedrus' speech in the Symposium, Eros is said to inspire soldiers to bravery when they are lovers in the Platonic sense. Thus Eros is a kind of patron and protector of these lovers when they go into battle… Pausanias goes on to say that, although the laws of Athens regarding lovers are complicated, they are wiser than elsewhere in Greece… Laws condemning lovers are established through the greed of the governors and maintained by the cowardice of the governed.

Thus, Donatello’s David can be seen as a manifestation of Platonic beliefs, as his homo eroticism can attest to protection from Eros due to Platonic love. Further, the Platonic representation of David could equate Florence to Athens in this sense; the citizens are ‘wiser than elsewhere’ in Italy, they are not cowards - just as the governors are not greedy.

1 Weller, Peter. "A Reassessment in Historiography and Gender: Donatello's Bronze" David" in the Twenty-First Century." Artibus et Historiae (2012): 43-77.

2 1 H. W. Janson, The Sculpture of Donatello, Princeton, 1957, 1, 77-79 3 McHam, Sarah Blake. "Donatello's bronze David and Judith as metaphors of Medici Rule in Florence." The art bulletin 83, no. 1 (2001): 32-47.

Arthur M. Field argues that Cosimo Medici oversaw the establishment of a Platonic Academy in Florence. At the very least, Cosimo, ‘like many merchant humanists such as Alberti, Manetti, and Palmieri, seems to have been genuinely interested in bringing teachings reserved for professionals into the public forum’ 4. For these reasons, it is fair to suggest that civic commissions, patronised by Cosimo and subsequent Medici heirs, would seek to illustrate a reverence for these ancient philosophies. I seek to argue that Donatello’s bronze David was indeed commissioned by Cosimo, due to its visual Platonic allusions.

4 Field, Arthur M. The origins of the Platonic Academy of Florence. Princeton University Press, 2014, pp13.....