Baroque era – Bernini’s David

Gian Lorenzo Bernini, David, marble, 1623-24 (Galleria Borghese, Rome)

Bernini was very prominent in the Roman art world of the 17^th century, and he flourished under the patronage of its cardinals and popes while challenging contemporary artistic traditions.  Bernini’s David is my favorite work of art from the Baroque era.  The marble sculpture is filled with emotion and drama, leaving the viewer feeling what David is feeling.  Bernini presents David in the midst of his battle against Goliath and we see David putting all his strength into hurling his stone at Goliath.  I feel as if I can relate not just mentally, but also physically, as if I were launching that stone with every once of strength I had against a superior foe.  With Bernini’s David, you really start to feel what David is feeling, and Bernini does this by using the space around it and reaching out into the space of the viewer.  Bernini’s David includes tortion which creates a dynamic figure which extends into the viewer’s space. 

Bernini’s David was very realistic and dramatic as it caught David at the climax of the action when he was battling Goliath.  The depictions of Bernini’s David are so different than those from the Renaissance because of the drama and action that Bernini captured with his portrait of David.  A major influence was the Counter-Reformation, with the Council of Trent.  The Baroque style in Italy was the direct result of the Counter-Reformation, and the Church needed a powerful style of art to fight against Martin Luther, and the Baroque style did just that.  Artists like Bernini used powerful, dramatic, muscular, and sometimes frightening art too really get to the viewer.  Bernini was one of the greatest artists of the Baroque era and he often worked for the Papacy.  Stories were used to counter the Protestant threat and depictions of stories through art were captured with clarity, realism, and emotion.  Bernini’s David did exactly that.  The Catholic Church employed artists, like Bernini, on a grand scale to depict paintings of biblical stories in a dramatic and theatrical light in an effort to thwart the Protestant Reformation.   The path to God in the Baroque era was very direct and emotional, which was because of the embattled position of the Church, and it felt it needed to appeal directly to the faithful. 

I think that Bernini’s David is absolutely amazing.  I love the drama that Bernini portrays and I love the detail in the statue.  David’s body looks so real and he looks very focused with the sling in his hand.  I love the way his muscles are rippling as he shoots his sling at Goliath.  It just shows how David, who is much smaller that Goliath, is putting everything he has into his throw.  I like the pouch of stones around David’s shoulder and how stretched his sling looks.  I think most of all I love how this sculpture tells a story.  Bernini does not leave out any details in his sculpture which leaves for the viewer to imagine the story.  Bernini uses compositions in the shape of diagonal lines which suggests movement, energy, and drama.  Bernini portrays David at the climax of the action and I am amazed at how realistic this statue is. 

 Brandon Knelsen