Summers Place Auctions (in association with Sotheby's)
Lot 61
‡ After Donatello: A bronze figure of David probably Chiurazzi Foundry late19th/early 20th century weathered green brown patination, on marble pedestal figure 157cm.; 62ins high Donatello`s bronze statue of David (circa 1440s) is notable as the first unsupported standing work in bronze cast during the Renaissance period, and the first freestanding nude male sculpture made since antiquity. It created a sensation when it was first shown, due to its portrayal of the nude young male. It depicts the young David with an enigmatic smile, posed with his foot on Goliath`s severed head just after killing the giant. The youth is standing naked, apart from a laurel-topped hat and boots, bearing the sword of Goliath The exact date of creation is unknown, but widely disputed, and dates vary between 1430 and the more accepted 1440s. Donatello had made a marble statue of David in 1408/1409, though this figure was a well-dressed and victorious king holding his sling, having slain the giant, Goliath`s head resting between his feet. The statue originally belonged to Cosimo de` Medici, and was placed in the courtyard of the Palazzo Medici in Florence. After the expulsion of Piero de` Medici, it was confiscated, and ordered placed in the courtyard of the Palazzo della Signoria. It is now in the Bargello. There is a full-size plaster cast (with a broken sword) in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London The Chiurazzi foundry was established in Naples and were at their most active around the turn of the 19th/20th centuries. They produced a range of over 1300 different models, mainly in bronze of after the Antique and Renaissance models, largely catering for clients engaged on the Grand Tour. In their larger pieces such as this David and Attis, the quality of casting and chiseling was amongst the highest of any of the European foundries