David: A Review of the Sculpture by Gianlorenzo Bernini

The sculpture is a by Gianlorenzo Bernini, who was greatly influenced by his father, Pietro Berninin, and is titled David. It was created in 1623 and was made of marble. The life-size, representational sculpture can be found in the Galleria Borghese in Rome. The sculpture is fully three-dimensional and is created by carving. Bernini’s use of marble was greatly influenced by his close study of Greek and Roman marble in the Vatican. Cardinal Borghese assisted Bernini in creating the sculpture by holding a mirror up to enable Bernini to fix his work. Bernini was 25 when he started to work on the sculpture. 

There is a lot of detail in the sculpture from the carved curly locks to the toe nails of its feet. Bernini captured the precise art of David as he appears to be in the very process of slaying Goliath. Line and movement is illustrated by the leaning back of David with sling in hand and an expression of determination on his face. His eyes are looking intently as if he is trying to capture the exact point of weakness in Goliath. With the turned head of David, we have a sense that Goliath is in the sculpture although he is not. The texture of his skin is smooth and his hair is curly. The color of the sculpture is a skin tone color and lines has created transition from light to dark or shading in the skin. He has muscles which seem to be on every inch of his body. You can tell the strength of him. The armor is in a pile behind him and he is standing over his harp and has a shepherd’s pouch around his neck with rocks in it. The artist has detailed the armor to show the coat of mail and gloves. A sash is draped across his lower body to cover it and to distinguish that David has no armor on.