History Art / David

* BibleTimes: It depicts the Biblical David, not yet a king, in the moment before he fights the Philistine Goliath.

* ArtisticLicenceAnatomy: Michelangelo is normally strict about adhering to human anatomy, but he deliberately made the hands and head of the ''David'' overly large, most likely so that people viewing it from far away in a chapel could distinguish these important elements easily. It was originally placed on a rooftop.

* BibleTimes: Specifically, the moment before David (who is not yet a king) fights the Philistine Goliath.

* FishEyes: Believe it or not, this sculpture has David's eyes move away from each other. Deliberate, because Michelangelo knew both eyes couldn't be viewed at once, and made each profile fill different artistic roles.

* ItsNotPornItsArt: On at least two different occasions, ''David'' was accused of being inappropriately ribald thanks to its stark depiction of male nudity. During the Victorian era, a replica of the statue was given hooks in order to attach a fig leaf whenever Queen Victoria and other important ladies visit, while in 2023, a middle school principal in Florida was [[https://www.npr.org/2023/03/27/1166079167/tallahassee-classical-michelangelo-david-principal-fired fired]] after a parent complained that an art teacher's use of the statue in a sixth grade class constituted child endangerment.
* MaleFrontalNudity: The ''David'' depicts the Jewish king within an idealized, muscular body without any clothing, allowing his full figure to be on display.

* ArtisticLicenseAnatomy: Michelangelo is normally strict about adhering to human anatomy, but he deliberately made the hands and head of the ''David'' overly large, most likely so that people viewing it from far away in a chapel could distinguish these important elements easily. It was originally placed on a rooftop.

* CheatedAngle: Michelangelo indulged in ArtisticLicenseBiology to make David's hands and head larger so that they would be more visible when viewed from far below, since it was originally placed on a roof.

* HeroicBuild: Rather than depicting David as small like many other artists would, David is here seen as a Hellenistic ideal of manhood, with abundant muscles and pulsating veins.

* MaleFrontalNudity: The ''David'' depicts the Jewish king within an idealized, muscular body without any clothing, allowing his full figure to be on display, [----includinghis(uncircumcised)penis.----]

* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: As a Jew, David should be circumcised, but since the Catholic Italians of the 1500s believed an [[AuthorAppeal uncircumcised figure to be more ideal]], David is portrayed here with his foreskin intact.

* AngelicBeauty: The sculpture's purpose is to represent the king's saintliness rather than his literal physical appearance. As such ''David'' is a flawless man deep in thought and full of life. The tell that the sculpture shows his spiritual status as a [[MessianicArchetype foreshadowing of Christ]] is that his penis is uncircumcised despite being a Jewish king.

* BeautyEqualsGoodness: The beauty of Michelangelo's ''David'' is meant to reflect the subject's holiness rather than be an accurate depiction of his physical appearance.

* ArtisticLicenseReligion: As many observers have pointed out, the sculpture depicts David as being uncircumcised which is a departure from Jewish custom. It is however in line with the artistic sensibilities of the Renaissance. Some have suggested that Michelangelo was trying to time-accurately show ''milah'' (the circumcision used before 2nd century AD, which only removed a bit of skin at the end) instead of ''periah'' (the whole circumcision established afterwards to make impossible to restore the foreskin), but it's very unlikely that Michelangelo would have had access to such info in his time and place, and the statue still shows no skin removed at all.

-->--'''David''', [[Literature/BooksOfSamuel 1 Samuel 17:37]]