Comparing and Contrasting the "David's"

      When looking at Michelangelo's depiction of "David" in comparison to Bernini's depiction of "David," we see many similar techniques used as well as different ones. The Baroque period picked up on many of the early Renaissance ideas and these two depictions of David are good examples of how the Renaissance period inspired them. 

When comparing the two pieces, we can see that they both incorporated a lot of naturalism and humanism. In Michelangelo's sculpture, David is seen standing in the contraposto stance, putting his weight on his right foot. This stance gives us that naturalistic feel and we see a similar stance being played out in Bernini's piece. David, in this piece, also puts all of his weight in his right foot. We are also given the sense that Bernini's David is about to move or is in motion with the way his body is angled. With that sense of movement, we are seeing a great use of naturalism. In both depictions we also see the use of humanism. In both figures, we see a lot of lines emphasizing the muscles, bones, and veins of their bodies. Both figures also show emotion and life within their face. In Michelangelo's piece, David's eyebrows are a bit creased showing tension within his face. In Bernini's piece, David also has his eyebrows creased and he is biting his lip as if he is really pushing himself and working hard. Not only do their facial expressions give them both characteristics of an actual human, but the sense of movement we get from both figures also gives them that attribute. Michelangelo's David is raising his left arm showing movement as well as humanism. Bernini's David, again, is angling his body and his arms are both bent allowing viewers to sense the movement an the humanism. When I look at this piece, I can feel the movement and I can imagine David finishing his move. Another trait that both pieces share is idealism. We see two very young looking figures with a very muscular physique and flawless hair. Although they have very natural characteristics an attributes of an actual human, they are both very perfect and nearly flawless in appearance, showing idealism. 
   
 A lot of the traits that both David's share, have carried on from classical periods, such as the contraposto stance and the use of naturalism, all the way through to the Baroque period but there are also many traits that came about later and are different in both of these pieces. Looking at Michelangelo's piece, David is very balanced. We can sense that, although David uses the contraposto stance, he is grounded on either side. The fact that his arm is bent on the left side, equals out his entire body. Michelangelo has created a very calm and somewhat elegant depiction of David. When looking at Bernini's depiction, we see an unbalanced piece. His sculpture is more dramatic and makes our eyes want to move around the piece. Instead of seeing a very balanced  piece, we see a piece that is set diagonally. Although the piece is not balanced, the diagonal form is very intriguing and invites us to move with and around the piece. In Bernini's depiction, drapery falls over David's groin area where as in Michelangelo's piece, David stands naked and uncovered. The Baroque period began looking towards appropriateness and decency in art, therefore, Bernini found a way to cover David's groin area. 
 
 It amazes me how many techniques used in the early Renaissance period actually influenced the Baroque period. Both depictions or David are great and the different attributes that each one has is what makes them great pieces to compare and contrast.