Michelangelo Comes to Washington, DC

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During the Winter of 2012-2013, the National Gallery of Art hosted an exhibit of Michelangelo's David/Apollo sculpture. It is displayed at the Bargello in Florence, a museum we did not visit on our trip to Italy the previous summer. On our recent trip to Italy, we saw many of Michelangelo's achievements in sculpture, architecture, and painting. The Pieta, David, The Holy Family, the Sistine Chapel Ceiling, The Last Judgement, and St. Peter's Dome, each one magnificent, numbered among them. Then, in early December it was announced that Michelangelo's unfinished David-Apollo sculpture would go on display for a limited time at the National Gallery of Art. Here was an opportunity to inspect another of Michelangelo's works! Susan and I went on President's Day in February.

David-Apollo is an unfinished sculpture by Michelangelo. Its subject, whether Apollo of Greece and Rome or the Biblical David, remains disputed and dates to the origin of the sculpture. Michelangelo may have left it unfinished on purpose. He began work on it in 1529 for Baccio Valori, a governor of Florence under the Medicis , but when he left Florence for Rome in 1534, the sculpture remained unfinished. (it is more complete that the series of unfinished Captive sculptures displayed at the Galleria Accademia, however.)

Perhaps Michelangelo started it as one subject and then changed his mind, especially given the political climate of the time. (The fall of the Florentine republic.) The figure is clearly more introspective than the famous David, though his posture is somewhat similar. (It is much smaller than the colossal David.) His eyes are closed as if in reverie, not focused on an opponent. The figure is reaching for something slung over his shoulder. Is he drawing an arrow out of a quiver (Apollo), or maybe slinging his slingshot over his back (David)? Was the unfinished mound under his right foot meant to be a rock or Goliath's head? Perhaps Michelangelo wanted the viewer to supply his own interpretation, or it could be Michelangelo just had too much work to finish some of his commissions. In any case, David or Apollo is struggling to get out of his marble bounds, just like the Captive sculptures. One can see the chisel marks where Michelangelo carved. Gallery notes pointed out that the figure is in a spiraling pose, called serpentina, that causes the viewers' gaze to be drawn around the form from the front to back.

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Photos

Michelangelo's David-Apollo
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Michelangelo's David-Apollo
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Michelangelo's David-Apollo
Detail showing the sculptor's chisel marks. DSC_0013p1

Michelangelo's David-Apollo
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Michelangelo's David-Apollo
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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

National Art Gallery
The beauty never ends.

[AndrewHL]

David-Apollo
We were fortunate to have the opportunity to view that Michelangelo close up.