David

Donatello was a master sculptor of the Italian Renaissance, renowned for his work in both marble and bronze. His marble statue of David, created around 1408-1415, is an early work that shows the influence of his teacher, Lorenzo Ghiberti. This statue was originally intended for the Florence cathedral and later became a civic symbol at the Palazzo Vecchio.1

While Donatello's David is significant, the more famous David sculpture in Florence is by Michelangelo, completed in 1504. Michelangelo's David was carved from a single, massive block of marble that had been previously worked on and abandoned by other artists. The marble itself was of mediocre quality, and the narrowness of the block influenced the statue's proportions.2