Mik's David

One of the greatest sculptures in history is, arguably, Michelangelo's David. Sculpted during the Renaissance period, a time of learning and art, David shows off the foundations and values of the time it was sculpted. The Renaissance foundations, scientific naturalism, classical humanism, and individualism can explain Michelangelo's sculpture of David.

David is a great example of scientific naturalism. The main ideas of scientific naturalism are tied to the understanding of nature and the sciences. Before sculpting David, Michelangelo dissected a cadaver to better grasp the anatomy of the human being, and upon inspection of David one can see how well he used that knowledge from David's extremely lifelike structure. Michelangelo's nude depicture of David fits in very well with the naturalism views of the time period.

A second major tie between David and the Renaissance is the classical humanism ideals. Classical humanism is based upon Greco-Roman ideas and foundations, a major part of which is the fascination with the human body. David is extremely buff, a quality that was highly revered during the Greek and Roman eras, and he shows off the male body very well. He is in a slight contraposto stance, where the artist illustrates the natural counterbalance of the body through the bending of the hips in one direction and the legs in another direction.

David also makes a very good representation of the Individualism views of the Renaissance. Individualism is, in a nutshell, the idea that everything revolves around one person. It is all about the individual's accomplishments, not the groups. Michelangelo's David portrays one man in a very powerful and intelligent light, and even hinting that this one man may be some sort of demi-god. The statue even becomes a sort of icon to the people portraying the power of man.

The three main ideals of the Renaissance era; scientific naturalism, classical humanism, and