An Analysis of Bernini’s Masterpiece, his Sculpture of David
Written by James Christopher Exconde, Franco Gabriel Gonzales, Casey Tyrone Howard, Margarita Ann Kare and Denise Angelica Lagman
The story of David and Goliath has been passed down through generations and has been incorporated into our collective psyche. It would be hard to find someone who has not heard of this resonating narrative of the underdog conquering the giant or the person who had the unfaltering faith to win against all the odds (Tearle, no date).
Before we proceed, here is a brief recap of the story of David and Goliath:
One of the ways this story and its characters have stayed alive and relevant is through art, particularly sculptures (Tearle, no date). A unique iteration of the statue of David was made by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
The Best Music that Embodies the Totality of Bernini’s Sculpture of David
For a better experience of the sculpture and this article, you may want to listen to what we think is the best music that embodies the sculpture and the moment it depicts.
The music is entitled Suite for Strings ‘Le Grand Cahier’: X. L’Incendie by Litvinovsky. The music starts with a continuous beat leading to the central part of the piece, almost as though it is preparing for something, which fully complements how David is getting ready to hit Goliath with the stone.
The music, in its entirety, provides an excellent build-up to the challenge David encounters as he faces to defeat Goliath. It supports the tension and dynamics that Bernini showcased in the sculpture (Borghese Gallery, no date), adding to the story he hopes to give the viewer.
You may play the music on a loop while reading this blog post and imagine the scene depicted by Bernini’s sculpture of David.
Take a moment to immerse yourself into sculpture’s story as the music plays; recall the story of David and Goliath.
“The image of David included power and nobility and showed heroism in all its glory” — Borghese Gallery
Description and Interpretation of the Sculpture’s Subject Representation
Bernini’s depiction of the biblical David is one that immediately tells a story at first glance. When analyzing the sculpture from its external elements alone, one can already make a hypothesis on the story that this biblical figure was a part of–even without proper knowledge of the David and Goliath’s tale as presented in the scriptures. In contrast to Michelangelo’s David, this sculpture is clearly on the offensive side, rather than the defensive. At its essence, Bernini’s David portrays a character who is mid-way through an attack, preparing to hurl this force at a perceived enemy.
One of the most striking features of Bernini’s sculpture in which this is seen is David’s stance. Much unlike Michelangelo’s David, who stands with his weight on one foot and the other foot relaxed, Bernini’s David stands with his feet spread apart and his knees bent. David’s stance is reminiscent of a predator–signaling alertness and being on guard and ready to attack. It is also worth noting how the weight at his feet are distributed: David’s stands on the ball of his left foot, which is positioned behind his right, in order to show viewers that he is captured in the middle of a pivot. Putting the weight on the ball of the foot shows a readiness to move, as it is from this part of our feet where we push the rest of ourselves to go into forward motion. As David is captured in this pivot position, he is ready to push his body into motion by shifting all his bodily energy and force into a specific side or part of the body.
“Bernini chose to depict David starting to throw the stone. This was a first; throwing figures in post-Antiquity sculptures was exceptionally unusual.” — Art in Context
From the feet and legs, this energy and power is carried and connected to the upper body through David’s torso. As seen in the sculpture, David’s torso is twisted to his right, showing the designated direction of the aforementioned energy and power. This force carries on to his tensed arm muscles, which are flexed. In doing so, Bernini portrays David as building his strength to increase the power of his slingshot attack, further reinforcing the narrative that this sculpture is one getting ready to strike.
Despite David’s torso being twisted, his face is oriented toward the front, indicating focus on a perceived target or enemy that exists within the sculpture’s intended story. Upon closer inspection of his face, viewers will see that David’s expression also contributed to the overall message being portrayed by the sculpture: his eyebrows are deeply furrowed and he tightly bites his lower lip. These components of David’s facial expressions reflect his intense concentration and determination to fulfill what all other parts of the sculpture have implied as David’s primary objective–to defeat his target.
Additionally, it is worth noting that David’s clothing and the materials around him add another layer of symbolism to the sculpture. His clothing and bag, which is loosely slung across his chest and body, resembles the clothing of early shepherds in the bible (JW.org, no date). From this, it can be deduced by the sculpture alone that David was a shepherd. However we can also see a piece of armor and a harp positioned below David, indicating that he is not only a shepherd, but a warrior and an artist. These two roles express David’s mastery in different skills, yet he remains humble because he is known and depicted as being a shepherd and a leader that humbly serves and protects others. Fundamentally, viewers can learn through David’s clothing and the items surrounding his sculpture that he is a heroic figure; he is powerful and skilled, but also humble and selfless–just as we know our modern-day heroes to be.
As we have inferred by our analysis on the visual aspects of the sculpture alone, Bernini’s David is one that tells an enticing story in many ways. The sculpture’s detailed elements found in David’s stance, facial expression, clothing, and items all contribute to the overall depth and meaning of the artistic piece. By capturing David in a moment of intense action, Bernini shows him off to the world as a powerful and determined hero who sprung from humble beginnings. Through this sculpture, Bernini was able to create a dynamic and exciting portrayal of David in which one could easily understand his heroic story and narrative through just a few visual elements.
Unique Formal Features or Elements of the Work as a Sculpture Form
Drama, movement, and intensity — these are key characteristics of Baroque art. Unlike Michelangelo’s sculpture of David, which merely has a static pose, Bernini’s sculpture of David is dynamic and emotive, showing the dramatic moment of his fight with Goliath. He was able to produce this effect by using the various formal features of sculpture that epitomize the ideals of the Baroque style in sculpture.
First, Bernini utilized the mass to convey a sense of power and physicality in the sculpture. David was depicted as a warrior-like figure, with his muscles twisted and flexed. The volume and weight of his body are also conveyed through the thickness and solidity of the marble, which gives the sculpture a sense of physical presence and weight. Furthermore, a strong light illuminates the sculpture from above, which helps emphasize the muscular features of David. Ultimately, these features helped depict David as a strong warrior known for his bravery and valor in battle against the giant, Goliath.
Second, the lines of the sculpture are dynamic and flowing, with David’s body bending and twisting to create a sense of tension and energy. Unlike Michelangelo’s David, which had relatively straight lines, Bernini’s David had diagonal lines, which emphasize the movement of his swing. This rejection of straight lines is a key similarity between Baroque artists as it results in “increasingly pictorial sculptures where movement and expression are emphasized” (Artland Magazine, no date).
Lastly, the sculpture of David uses negative space to create a sense of movement and action. The space around David’s body was carefully sculpted and carved to create an implied line of movement and motion. The space in front of David, along with the position of his body, conveys to the audience that he is about to lunge forward for his attack. This helps create a dynamic tension between the figure and the space around it, adding to the overall drama and energy of the sculpture.
Overall, Bernini’s sculpture of David epitomizes the Baroque style of sculpture, which heavily focuses on drama, passion, and tension (Artland Magazine, no date). Through his use of mass, lines, and space, he was able to create an intensity that made the viewers feel as if they themselves were in the midst of the battle between David and Goliath. Indeed, the sculpture is a masterful example of the power of sculpture to convey emotion and tell a story through form and composition.
Content and Meaning of the Sculpture
In a moment of triumph and exaltation, the sculpture depicts the biblical hero David, who defeated the giant Goliath with a single stone from his sling. The content of Bernini’s sculpture is primarily focused on the concept of divine intervention, and the triumph of the human spirit over adversity through faith.
The hero is depicted with a strong and muscular physique, in the act of throwing a stone with his sling. His facial expression is intense and focused, conveying his determination, confidence and faith in his victory. The sculptor has captured the moment of tension and drama in the scene, as if the stone is about to be released from the sling and the outcome of the battle is uncertain (Harris and Zucker, no date).
The sculpture’s formal elements, such as its composition, texture, dynamism and articulation contribute to its expression. In the sculpture, David’s body is twisted and contorted in a dynamic pose that suggests movement and activity. The texture of the sculpture is highly detailed and realistic, with the veins in David’s hands and the curls of his hair all rendered with exquisite attention to detail (Harris and Zucker, no date).
In summary, the sculpture serves as a medium for the valuable message and story it expresses to the people that even though David was an underdog, he demonstrates a keen understanding of tactics in order to defeat a larger and brutish foe. He is willing to stand up and step forward, even if he is young, and face a physically overpowering enemy alone (Tearle, no date).
Above all, he has a deep and unfaltering faith in God that He will protect and guide him. These are some of the qualities one would want in a person or even a leader: courageous, a willingness to be at the frontlines to set an example and faith in a higher power that is beyond anyone (Tearle, no date).
The story of David conquering Goliath will continue to resonate and inspire people through all forms, especially through the arts, due to its timeless and ever-relevant narrative.
Written by James Christopher Exconde, Franco Gabriel Gonzales, Casey Tyrone Howard, Margarita Ann Kare and Denise Angelica Lagman
REFERENCES:
Artland Magazine (no date) Art Movement: Baroque — The Style of an Era. Available at: https://magazine.artland.com/baroque-art-definition-style/ (Accessed: 3 May 2023).
Art in Context (2022) Bernini “David” — A Study on the David Statue by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Available at: https://artincontext.org/bernini-david/ (Accessed: 5 May 2023)
Borghese Gallery (no date) David by Bernini in the Borghese Gallery: History, Analysis, Description, Interesting Facts. Available at: borghese.gallery/collection/sculpture/david.html (Accessed: 4 May 2023)
Harris, B. & Zucker, S. (no date) Bernini, David. Available at: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/baroque-art1/baroque-italy/a/bernini-david (Accessed: 5 May 2023)
Tearle, O. (no date) A Summary and Analysis of the David and Goliath Story. Available at: https://interestingliterature.com/2021/05/david-and-goliath-story-summary-analysis/ (Accessed: 5 May 2023)
