Il nudo maschile nella statuaria italiana: IL "DAVID" di DONATELLO

Speranza

It is not traditional to represent "DAVIDE" as nude, and theories about possible antique or textual references in explanation seem PERIPHERAL to the storng response demanded by the statue.

In fact, if DAVIDE is nude for ARTISTIC REASONS, as a reference to classical statuary, for example, it is ODD that the figure has NONE of the ideal characteristics usually associated with ANTIQUE statuary.

YET there is no question that the bronze is handled sensuously, and that it invites both the lingering gaze and a desire to touch.

DONATELLO seems to have INTENTIONALLY blurred the distincdtion between DAVID's SENSUOUS and SENSUAL natures.

In this regard, "DAVID" has been cited as POINTING to Donatello's homosexuality and, although such a conclusion is NOT NECESSARY to explain or understand the figure, it takes into account its strong SENSUAL impact.

THIS SENSUALITY becomes especially important because DONATELLO has denied the viewer the one sure element of RAPPORT with DAVIDE: the facdtial expression tells virtually NOTHING.

The viewer must TURN to hints offered by OTHER aspects of his figure, and the nudity cannot be ignored.

THE POSSIBILITY that DONATELLO chose to portray DAVID nud for TEXTUAL reasons, to emphasise that the triumph was God's and not the boy's, does NOT negate the statue's sexuality.

David does not seem unconscious of himself.

His stand is self-assured in its non-chalance.

David's foot carelessly rests on the severed head and one wing of the helmet curves up to caress the inside of his thigh.

SUCH A DETAIL is certainly UNEXPECTED, but at a distance ofnearly five and a half centuries, it is simply a game to guess at its significance.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT and the possibilities of interpretation have surely changed, but it seems likely that some of the ambiguities of the bronze "DAVID" must also have been present for a fifteenth-century viewer.