NEWS - FLORENCE

Shining glory

(issue no. 92/2008 / December 11, 2008)
Donatello bronze restored

After 18 months of work, and a 200,000-euro tab, a masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance has been restored and returned to display at the Bargello.

 

 

Although most of the original gold leaf has worn away over time, the statue now has restrained much of its original luster. For the next year, Donatello's David will be flanked by a copy to show how it looked was it was first cast in the 1440s and covered in gold leaf.

 

 

During the first phase of the restoration, visitors to the museum could watch the restorer, Ludovica Nicolai, at work and ask questions of docents posed in the work area. However, the later stages of the work required highly sensitive tools, such as the newly invented ‘laser comb' used to brush and polish the sculpture. Removing the encrusted dirt and grime from the delicate gold leaf that still partially decorates the work was a major focus of the project.

 

 

The 1.58-meter statue, considered Donatello's first major work, depicts David, holding a sword, and stepping on Goliath's severed head. Apart from a hat with laurel and a pair of boots, he is completely naked. The youthful, feminine physique of the figure contrasts with Michelangelo's sinewy, masculine David, sculpted about 50 years later. According to many art experts, Donatello's David was the first bronze nude since ancient times.

 

 

‘The David is incomparably more beautiful now than ever before, even though it would seem impossible', said Beatrice Paolozzi Strozzi, director of the Bargello museum on November 28, when the restored statue was unveiled to the public and the press.

 

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