BERLIN—Two Davids greet visitors at the entrance to the exhibition “Donatello: The Inventor of the Renaissance” in Berlin’s Gemäldegalerie, and they couldn’t be more different.
Having left Florence, Italy, for the first time, Donatello’s triumphant marble sculpture “David” dons classical drapery and a crown of wine grapes normally seen on Bacchus, the Roman god of wine. He appears pensive. Look closely and you’ll see the sculpture’s anatomy is not quite right: Notice his elongated neck and fingers as per the Gothic style.
“David,” 1408–09 and 1416, by Donatello. Marble; 75 3/8 inches by 16 1/2 inches. Bargello National Museum, Florence, Italy. (David von Becker/State Museum of Berlin)
The other “David” is the gallery’s plaster cast of Donatello’s best-known bronze masterpiece, the original of which never leaves Florence. In this work, Donatello chose to depict a naked, young shepherd—a new idea—when traditionally the biblical figure had been depicted as a wise old king. Compared to Donatello’s older marble piece, David’s anatomy here is much better….