Florence is home to several sculptures of David, most famously Michelangelo's at the Galleria dell'Accademia. However, the city also features two additional Davids by Donatello at the Bargello. The Renaissance shifted focus from the soul to the human body, reviving the classical love of physical form. For the Florentines, David symbolized their own republican identity and triumph over Milan, feeling divinely chosen and linked to ancient Rome. The banking Medici family, who governed Florence, also played a significant role in championing these artistic representations of David.
"For a thousand years, the Christian West had looked to the soul as the place to focus. The body was seen as the path to corruption, and so it was not to be celebrated. What we're seeing here is a return to ancient Greece and Rome's love of the body, its respect for the body."
"To the Florentines of the mid-fifteenth century, this particular body wasn't just that of 'King David from the Bible,' but that of their own republic as well. Seeing themselves as the David-like underdog victorious over the Goliath that was the Duke of Milan, they felt blessed and chosen by God as the heirs of the ancient Roman Republic."
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