Michelangelo was a sculptor, poet, painter and an architect. One of his best work is the statue of David and is considered one of the most famous statue in the world. The story of David is the story of a teenage boy king who killed Goliath. In one of his poems he wrote "son d'esser bruto" which means "I know I am ugly". He said his crushed nose gave him the look of a beggar. He knew he could make little about his own looks but his David would become the standard by which male beauty would be judged.
Michelangelo's David is all about choosing the right product story that would wow the customers and delivering on this story with utmost precision and quality. At the same time his technique can be used in integrating the vision, principles and mission along with the product itself.
1) Ease of Creation 2) Ease of Design 3) Improve Strength 4) Manufacturing Precision 5) Improve Adaptability and Versatility 6) Mange Shape

Michelangelo’s David

  • 1

    Free hand sculpting

    Goal-  Create David from imagination

    Subject- Michelangelo

    Object- Marble Block

    Blocker - Ease of adapting to his imagination

    Solution - Most Sculptors would mark their block of marble to know where to chip, but Michelangelo worked freehand starting from front and then working back. He would start by roughing out by taking off the bulk of the weight with a point chisel and a large mallet for getting it down to general shape of the sculpture and then work inwards.

    Digitization Principle and ID - Separation

  • 2

    Working with delicate stone

    Goal-  Be extremely precise in creating David

    Subject- Michelangelo

    Object- Marble Block

    Blocker - Strength of the Marble was a constraint with no room for error

    Solution - Michelangelo displayed the strength of an Athlete and accuracy of a surgeon while sculpting David. He used different techniques and tools to work on different areas of the statue. For example, using point chisel to take bulk weight out, large mallet to get it down to general shape, tooth tool for detailed work and modelling and finishing with a rasp.

    Digitization Principle and ID - Local Quality

  • 3

    Marble block constraint

    Goal-  Sculpt colossal statue of David

    Subject- Michelangelo

    Object- David

    Blocker - He was asked to use an old block of marble already owned by the cathedral which was too narrow and one sculptor even carved a large hole out

    Solution - To overcome the constraints, Michelangelo used two approaches. 1) Instead of creating the posture of David and then picking the marble of that size, he took the marble and later started to fit the posture of David into it. 2) He took each area of the marble and tried to fit the body of David in the most suited posture. David had to look to the side as there wasn't enough marble to face him forward. David had to be in contrapposto position so his legs would fit around the large holes already in the marble. He had to be slender due to the depth of the marble.

    Digitization Principle and ID - Segmentation and Inversion.

  • 4

    Strong message

    Goal-  Give a strong message, 1) David wins Goliath with rationality and skill rather than brute strength. 2) David represents an ideal human who can become a hero by intelligence and will power.

    Subject- Michelangelo

    Object- Biblical story of David

    Blocker - Traditionally David was portrayed at the point of victory holding the head of dead Goliath and extremely Powerful.

    Solution - The story of David and Goliath is the biblical story of Philistine giant defeated by the teenage Israelite with his sling. The story end by David cutting off his head and holding it up to the cheering crowd.  But Michelangelo took a different timeline of the story and for the first time in history David is depicted before the battle and the moment of victory.

    Digitization Principle and ID - Prior Action

  • 5

    David looks more humane

    Goal-  Make David look more Human like who is tense but contemplates the challenge ahead of him with a calculated gaze and emphasize David's victory was intellectual

    Subject- Michelangelo

    Object- David

    Blocker - The marble is hard and strong

    Solution - To make David look more humane and real he worked at each part of the body with specific characteristics. David had to look like he is at the peak of his concentration contemplating the challenge ahead of him and he is not a self assured boy but an apprehensive man and to bring that precision, Michelangelo made David's

    1. Neck look tense
    2. David is in Contrapposto or counter pose, invented by ancient Greek's and a natural and human way to stand. There are areas where few muscles are relaxed and few that are  tensed like the thigh muscles. Most of the weight is on one leg with other leg forward.
    3. Nostrils are flared
    4. Eyebrows furrowed with fear
    5. Ready to get into action
    6. Rock is inside the right palm
    7. Slingshot rests on his right shoulder and hangs on his back
    8. Chest appears to pulse with anxiety
    9. Jugular vein is swollen which appears when one is nervous or  excited
    10. Veins in the raised left hand are more delicate than the veins in hanging right hand exactly how the blood circulation happens in humans

    Digitization Principle and ID - Local Quality

  • 6

    Position of the Statue

    Goal- As per commission, statue was designed to be seen by viewers from 80 meters below and Michelangelo wanted the viewer to observe the small details clearly.

    Subject- Viewer

    Object- David

    Blocker - For the viewer to see the statue clearly, the volume of the statue has to be increased

    Solution - Create unusually large head and hands so the proportions work perfectly when seen from below

    Digitization Principle and ID - Asymmetry

  • 7

    The Christian context

    Goal-  Create a Christian context of David

    Subject- Biblical story of David

    Object- David Statue

    Blocker - It was had to create a status of a Jewish hero from a Christian perspective and that can be easily understood by the viewer

    Solution - Michelangelo modified the Jewish hero David, by not circumcising as the catholic church denounced it and regarded it as barbaric in the middle ages. 

    Digitization Principle and ID - Separation

  • 8

    The Principle

    Title - The Principle

    Goal-  Depict the principles of modesty, respectability and will power

    Subject- Michelangelo

    Object- Philosophical angle of David

    Blocker - It is hard to bring this context into the statue that can be easily understood by the viewer

    Solution - In contrast to contemporary images of satyrs and other figures that represented evil sexuality, David's penis is rather small depicting modestly and also that he is in control of his own urges.

    Digitization Principle and ID - Inversion

  • 9

    The Gaze

    Goal-  Add intensity to the gaze

    Subject- Viewer

    Object- David

    Blocker - An external light source would be needed to bring in that intensity

    Solution - The pupils are carved out hollow to capture the changing sunlight.

    Digitization Principle and ID - Transformation of Properties