After finishing work on The Lion King I went to Rome and Florence just to study Italian sculpture and art in general. Michelangelo's magnificent David is housed in the Galleria dell' Accademia di Firenze, and I remember how crowded the museum was that day. Probably the reason I didn't sketch the full body.
You might know that David's head and and hands are proportionally oversized, which of course has its reason. After its completion in 1504 the statue was supposed to be placed on top of the Duomo Cathedral. From ground level David's proportions would have looked perfect.
However at the time a committee decided that the statue was too significant to be hidden away on the roof alongside other notable Old Testament figures. So David was placed in front of the Palazzo dale Signoria instead. In 1873 he was moved to his current location.
If you haven't seen this symbol of Italian Renaissance in person, it's worth the trip to Florence! I forgot to mention the sculptor was 29 years old when he finished David. (He was 26 when he started the sculpture).
Another fun fact: Raphael admired Michelangelo's David, Leonardo Da Vinci on the other hand only had "snappish" remarks.
Amazing sketches, Andreas! Just a little correction, the David statue is not at the Uffizi but at the Galleria dell'Accademia
ReplyDeleteOops...it's been a while. Corrected.
DeleteIhr Tipp sich in beengten und Zeitdrucksituationen auf Segmente zu konzentrieren empfinde ich als sehr hilfreich! 😊Danke! 😚🤗😊
ReplyDeleteIch mag Museen in denen es entspannter und ruhiger zugeht und knipse aus Ungeduld mit mir selbst anstatt diese zu zeichnen Skulpturen aus den verschiedensten und spannensten Blickwinkeln.
Kürzlich fand ich hierzu und bezüglich Ihrer David Zeichnung eine interessante Stelle aus dem Buch "Peter Paul Rubens" aus dem Phaidon Verlag Köln (1968)*
"" ....Schon als junger Mann in Rom versuchte er [Rubens] seine p!astischen Modelle zu beleben.Er zeichnete oft nach denselben Vorbildern wie sein naher Zeitgenosse Hendrik Goltzius, aber im Gegensatz zu diesem bemühte er sich selten den Eindruck des Marmors zu wecken.[Dies ist mir auch bei Ihnen aufgefallen, Mr Deja🙂] Es ist bei ihm fast so, als dächte er immer schon an einen Zusammenhang, in den er die Figur bringen könne. Er zeichnete aus den ungewöhnlichsten Blickwinkeln; er kann unsere Vorstellung von einer Figur zerstören, indem er sie stark verkürzt wiedergibt oder umkreist, um sie in einer ungewohnten, fast unkenntlichen Stellung festzuhalten.... "
😊
*von Jennifer Fletcher übersetzt von Karl Berisch
Hello Andreas
ReplyDeletecan you tell me who is in the framed picture of the 4 caricatures in the scene when ward kimball shows his work to Robert Benchley in the movie recuclent dragon 1941 ?
I tried everywhere to find who it was
Beautiful Sketches Andrea!! .....It is curious how, during Michelangelo’s lifetime, when this sculpture was moved from Rome to Florence, it was stoned by villagers, since its purpose, being placed in the Piazza della Signoria, was for David to represent the political power of small Florence (David) against the 'giant' Rome. Some of the damage caused by those stones remains to this day, except for a few that have been filled in with marble dust. (source: books by Rudolf Wittkower)
ReplyDeleteit's nuts to think that he was only about 23 or 24 at the time of the Pieta, and Bernini was around the same age at the time of his own 'David'. It's very humbling in a lot of ways, but also quite promising to think that art training can be done so effectively that people get so good so young. It's possible!
ReplyDelete