In the medieval period Jewish and Christian writers alike interpreted Judith as a moral, religious, and political heroine. Although the Old Testament figure’s identity as a victorious warrior has become familiar through such later sculptures as Michelangelo’s colossal David, we overlook that before Donatello’s marble sculpture almost every representation of David interpreted him in other ways, as a king, prophet, writer of the Psalms, or ancestor of Christ.ĦUnlike David, Judith had never been associated with Florence, even though the textual source, the apocryphal Old Testament Book of Judith, lent itself to a political interpretation: it recounted the tale of Judith’s salvation of the Jews from the armies of Nebuchadnezzar to inspire Jewish patriotism. It was inscribed: ”To those who bravely fight for the fatherland God will offer victory even against the most terrible foes.” 4 Such a political interpretation of David was unusual. 5David’s identification as a tyrant-slayer was corroborated by the statue’s obvious relation to Donatello’s earlier commission of the same theme, his marble David, which an earlier republican regime had ordered installed in the Palazzo della Signoria in 1416.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |