The Era of 1585 to about 1730 is known as the Baroque Era. Baroque translates to a large imperfect pearl. The meaning that is trying to be captured here is “imperfect”. A lot of paintings from this era appeared to be strange to the naked eye as if one is looking at a large imperfect pearl. When one thinks of pearl its beautiful, shiny, and very enlightening to look at. The paintings from this era were different from paintings from previous eras. The Renaissance Era had qualities that could be described as calming, noble, and more reserved. The Baroque Era had qualities that had an opposite affect when looking at it. It could be described as intense, dynamic, and very involving for the audience. During this period the Catholic Church was all for religious art as a way to capture the audience and in a sense inspire them. They recognized its capturing abilities and the effects it could have on someone. It was an act to make people come to the reality of Christ’s suffering and the sacrifice Christ made.
With all that in mind, there was a specific piece that intrigued me to the fullest. This piece is known as David by Bernini.
David by Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Picture from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_(Bernini)
This is a sculpture representing David by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The sculpture shows David in a battle with Goliath who is a Philistine Warrior. At this time David was just a small Shepard but he defeated Goliath with a rock as portrayed in the sculpture. This is portrayed from a scene in the Old Testament in the First Book of Samuel. What drew my mind to this sculpture is the amount of energy shown. It looks like he is literally about to throw the rock. This shows a single moment in time. On a a closer look of the sculpture, David is biting his lips and scrunching his eye brows as anyone would as they were about to throw a rock at a huge warrior in the middle of a battle. It depicts so many things; it shows bravery, intensity, and and the dynamic movement that goes into it. It’s almost like the sculpture is coming alive. It’s like its paused in real life. The sculpture is directly related to the Council of Trent because the Council had an influence on the the style and depictions of the era. The Council was formed due to the Protestant Reformation. David by Gian Lorenzo Bernini is a great example for the style of the Baroque Era that the Council fo Trent reformed.
Sources
The Key to Happiness is Music and Art 
Hey Keegan,
I love the David’s Bernini sculpture as well. In fact, I wrote my blog focusing on this one too. I agree with you that one of the most interesting things I see in this sculpture is how much action it shows about the real story. However, Michelangelo’s and Donatello’s David are so different from this one that it looks like they are three different Davids. On my opinion, Donatello’s David look like a woman posing like it has a lot of power but it doesn’t even have a single sign of throwing a rock. Likewise, Michelangelo’s David looks like he is going to throw a rock but very passive; it doesn’t look like David is facing a giant at all. Finally, Bernini fully expresses himself through his sculpture. It shows not only a physical expressions but also different emotions as you see David’s face. Needless to say, this is my favorite of all three; I think it is a marvelous piece of art!
Here is a video I found about Michelangelo’s and Bernini’s David. I enjoyed watching the differences between them, hope you do as well. 🙂
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/monarchy-enlightenment/baroque-art1/baroque-italy/v/bernini-david-1623-24
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I was really interested in seeing this after examining Michelangelo’s David. The difference between the eras is very apparent in these two works of art. The posture in Bernini’s David represents the Baroque era wonderfully with their desire to make art more theatrical and dramatic. As you mentioned the movement is so very fluid and strong. I think one more thing it could possibly be doing is representing a switch from representing a religious simple. Although regardless it is still of David, it looks more as though it is about sport and strength than his correlation to a section in the bible. Great blog, I really enjoyed it and can relate to the way you have viewed the art.
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I can honestly say I never really pay attention to sculptures at all. When reading through your blog, I still didn’t really give much thought to the picture of David. As I kept reading your description I read about how his face was depicted and immediately went back up to it and gave it a hard look. So thank you for giving a great description on David, because it would not have made me take a second look at it. All of the tense muscles definitely make it look like he is suspended in motion. The furrowed eyebrow and biting of the lip adds to just how hard he is working on defeating Goliath. I think what would add to it for me is if there was a way to get a little bit more motion in the hair, but I know nothing about sculpture and if that is even possible. Again thank you for picking a sculpture.
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