David by Bernini

The sculpture below is that of David, from the story of David and Goliath, captured at a moment in time by the master sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Bernini was a master at not only capturing every minute detail of the human form but also capturing an entire scene and story often times in just a single figure and all in stone. Other sculptures and sculptors manage to capture form but often in a frozen or posed manner. In this story Bernini choses to include a few extra features such as the armor that has been thrown aside and is too large for him given to him by Saul. After all, it was Saul who Goliath had most likely been calling out to fight as he was the armies great champion. Also in the sculpture is the slingshot with which David topples Goliath, appearing stretched as if he was in the middle of turning around to throw the rock. It is said that Bernini chiseled his own face into David's which was not an uncommon thing for an artist to do. The fineness and attention to detail and the human form in this sculpture is truly astounding and breathtaking and shows a perfect example of how the Romans had a demand for works depicting biblical stories and had respect for the

human form. The areas that always stand out to me are the hands, feet, and knees the veins all visible, the delicacy of the soft areas of human skin just right, and all in stone. Bernini truly deserves to be remembered as one of the greats.