Michelangelo's David : Florentine history and civic identity /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Paoletti, John T., author.
Imprint:New York : Cambridge University Press, 2015.
Description:1 online resource (xii, 388 pages) : illustrations
Language:English
Subject:Michelangelo Buonarroti, -- 1475-1564. -- David.
Michelangelo -- Buonarroti -- 1475-1564 -- David
David (Michelangelo Buonarroti)
Art and society -- Italy -- Florence -- History -- 16th century.
Art et société -- Italie -- Florence -- Histoire -- 16e siècle.
ART -- Sculpture & Installation.
Art and society.
Politics and government.
Florence (Italy) -- Symbolic representation.
Florence (Italy) -- Politics and government -- 1421-1737.
Florence (Italie) -- Représentation symbolique.
Florence (Italie) -- Politique et gouvernement -- 1421-1737.
Italy -- Florence.
Electronic books.
History.
Format: E-Resource Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/12481850
Hidden Bibliographic Details
Other authors / contributors:Bagemihl, Rolf.
ISBN:9781107338784
1107338786
9781316247693
1316247694
9781316249598
131624959X
110704359X
9781107043596
9781107043596
110704359X
Notes:Includes bibliographical references and index.
Main text in English, original documents transcribed in Latin and Italian.
Summary:"This book takes a new look at the interpretations of, and the historical information surrounding, Michelangelo's David. New documentary materials discovered by Rolf Bagemihl add to the early history of the stone block that became the David and provide an identity for the painted terracotta colossus that stood on the cathedral buttresses for which Michelangelo's statue was to be a companion. The David, with its placement at the Palazzo della Signoria, was deeply implicated in the civic history of Florence, where public nakedness played a ritual role in the military and in the political lives of its people. This book, then, places the David not only within the artistic history of Florence and its monuments but also within the popular culture of the period as well"--
Other form:Print version: Paoletti, John T. Michelangelo's David. New York : Cambridge University Press, 2015 9781107043596 110704359X
Standard no.:9781107043596
Review by Choice Review

Paoletti's book provides a reassessment of this colossal nude sculpture that goes beyond its traditional interpretation as a biblical hero for the Florentine Republic to include a discussion of its original but unrealized role in the broader sculptural program of the cathedral facade, which developed through the 1400s, and then an explanation of its shift in meaning when in 1504, the sculpture was placed as a "portal guardian" to the Palazzo della Signoria. A close examination of the biblical story then demonstrates greater narrative ambiguity than is typically acknowledged, and indeed, documents describe the work as a colossus or a giant, not a David. Furthermore, David's nudity continues to elude scholars because its meaning does not recall just the nude hero of classical antiquity but also the political "body" in a state of harmony, or a militaristic virility, among other interpretations. The discovery of new documents in the Archivio of the Cathedral of Florence, transcribed here, allows for a fuller understanding of Michelangelo's day-to-day workshop practice as well as further ideas on how and why this work came to fruition. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, and research collections. --Allison Lee Palmer, University of Oklahoma

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review