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A clean-shaven, young man, David, stands with his feet to either side of a severed head in this free-standing marble sculpture. In this view, David’s body angles to our left but he turns his oval face to us as he looks into the distance with wide eyes. He has a straight nose, closed lips, and a round chin. Short hair curls on his forehead and to the nape of his neck. The strap of a satchel is slung over one shoulder and across his torso over a thigh-length toga. He stands with his weight on his right foot, to our left, and the other knee bent so the foot rests at an angle along the jawline of the severed head. David holds the strap of a long slingshot down by his right side, to our left, so the pocket end of the slingshot rests on the ground at that foot. The other hand is braced, palm out, on the slightly bent thigh. The severed head is larger in scale than David’s head, and it lies on one ear. The head has a beard, curly hair, and the eyes are closed. A column of marble behind the pair help support the stone’s weight. The surface of the marble has deepened to parchment white in some areas and is a darker tan on David’s face. The sculpture has an oval base carved from the same stone, and it rests on a pedestal against a pale pink stone wall.

Bernardo Rossellino or Antonio Rossellino

The David of the Casa Martelli, c. 1461/1479

West Building, Ground Floor — Gallery G19

Medium

marble

Dimensions

overall: 164.6 x 50.4 x 42.4 cm (64 13/16 x 19 13/16 x 16 11/16 in.)
gross weight (figure and pedestal): 975.234 kg (2150 lb.)
gross weight (figure only): 272.158 kg (600 lb.)
gross weight (pedestal only): 703.075 kg (1550 lb.)
pedestal weight (top section): 408.237 kg (900 lb.)
pedestal weight (bottom section): 294.838 kg (650 lb.)

Credit Line

Widener Collection

Accession Number

1942.9.115

Artists / Makers

Bernardo Rossellino (sculptor) Florentine, 1409 - 1464

Antonio Rossellino (sculptor) Florentine, 1427 - 1479

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
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Provenance

Luigi d'Ugolino Martelli [1452-1503], Florence; his son Luigi Martelli [1494-1580], Florence;[1] Martelli family, Florence; sold 28 June 1916 through (Giuseppe Salvadori, Florence) and (French & Company, New York) to Joseph E. Widener;[2] inheritance from Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, after purchase by funds of Joseph E. Widener; gift 1942 to NGA.

[1] The earliest reference to the sculpture is in the private records of Luigi d'Ugolino Martelli, in a list of personal possessions begun in 1488. See memo dated 20 September 1984 from Kent Lydecker, in NGA curatorial files.

[2] Correspondence dated 1914 and 1916 from Salvadori and French & Company to Joseph Widener, in NGA curatorial files.

Associated Names

French & Company LLC
Martelli family
Martelli, Luigi
Martelli, Luigi d'Ugolino
Salvadori, Giuseppe
Widener, Joseph E.

Exhibition History

1985: Italian Renaissance Sculpture in the Time of Donatello, Detroit Institute of Arts; Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas; Forte Belvedere, Florence, Italy, 1985-1986, no. 55 (English catalogue), no. 92 (Italian catalogues), repros.

2004: Verrocchio's David Restored: A Renaissance Bronze from the National Museum of the Bargello, Florence, National Museum of the Bargello, Florence; High Museum of Art, Atlanta; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2004, fig. 15 (shown only in Washington).

2022: Donatello: Inventor of the Renaissance, Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, 2022-2023, no. 81, repro., as by Desiderio da Settignano and followers (Brtoldo di Giovanni?).

2022: Dontatello: Il Rinascimento, Palazzo Strozzi e Museo Nacionale del Bargello, Florence, 2022, no. 12.7, repro; as by Desiderio da Settignano and followers (Bertoldo di Giovanni?).

2023: Donatello: Sculpting the Renaissance, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2023, no. 6.1, as by Followers of Donatello.

Bibliography

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1904: Meyer, Alfred Gotthold. Donatello. Translated by P.G. Konody. London, 1904: 93-96, 146, 149, fig. 86.

1904: Schottmüller, Frida. Donatello, ein Beitrag zum Verständnis seiner künstlerischen Tat. Munich, 1904: 124.

1907: Schubring, Paul. Donatello: Des Meisters Werke in 277 Abbildungen. Stuttgart and Leipzig, 1907: repro. 38 (2nd ed., New York, 1921).

1909: Pointner, Andy. Die Werke des Florentiniscen Bildhauers Agostino d'Antonio di Duccio. Strassburg, 1909: 108.

1911: Crawford, 27th earl of (David Alexander Edward Lindsay, also known as Lord Balcarres). Donatello. 2nd ed. London, 1911: 52-55 (1st ed. 1903).

1916: Marquand, Allan. "The Martelli David and the Youthful St. John Baptist." Art in America 4, no. 6 (October 1916): 358-366, fig. 1.

1916: Sirén, Osvald. "Two Florentine Sculptures Sold to America." The Burlington Magazine 29, no. 161 (August 1916): 197-199, pl. A.

1935: Inventory of the Objects d'Art at Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, The Estate of the Late P.A.B. Widener. Philadelphia, 1935: 1.

1942: Works of Art from the Widener Collection. Foreword by David Finley and John Walker. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 8, as by Donatello.

1943: Swarzenski, Georg. "Some Aspects of Italian Quattrocento Sculpture in the National Gallery." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 6th series, 24 (November 1943): 285 fig. 1, 287.

1943: Swarzenski, Georg. "Some Aspects of Italian Renaissance Sculpture in the National Gallery." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 6th series, 24 (September 1943): 156.

1948: Paintings and Sculpture from the Widener Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1948 (reprinted 1959): 113, repro., as by Donatello.

1949: L. J. Roggeveen. "De National Gallery of Art te Washington." Phoenix 4, no. 12 (December 1949): 334, 336, repro. (as by Donatello).

1949: Planiscig, Leo. "Di alcune opere falsamente attribuite a Donatello." Phoebus 2, no. 2 (1949): 55-59.

1949: Seymour, Charles. Masterpieces of Sculpture from the National Gallery of Art. Washington and New York, 1949: 66-71, 175, no. 17, as by Donatello.

1951: Pope-Hennessy, John. 'Review: Masterpieces of Sculpture from the National Gallery of Art by Charles Seymour." The Burlington Magazine 93, no. 576 (March 1951): 98.

1957: Janson, H.W. The Sculpture of Donatello. 2 vols. Princeton, 1957: 1:pls. 21-25; 2:21-23 (2nd ed. Princeton, 1963: 6, 21-23, pls. 8-9).

1957: Shapley, Fern Rusk. Comparisons in Art: A Companion to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. London, 1957 (reprinted 1959): pl. 18.

1958: Clark, Kenneth. "Donatello." Apollo (December 1958): 225-227.

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1961: Hartt, Frederick. "New Light on the Rossellino Family." The Burlington Magazine 103, no. 702 (1961): 385-392.

1965: Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 153, as by Donatello.

1966: Seymour, Charles. Sculpture in Italy, 1400 to 1500. Harmondsworth, 1966: 90, 230-235.

1968: National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 136, repro., as by Donatello.

1968: Pope-Hennessy, John. Essays on Italian Sculpture. London and New York, 1968: 24, 65-71, figs. 63, 64, 67 (detail).

1968: Schlegel, Ursula. "Problemi intorno al David Martelli." In Donatello e il suo Tempo. Atti dell’VIII Convegno internazionale di studi sul Rinascimento. Firenze-Padova, 25 settembre-1 ottobre 1966. Florence, 1968: 245-258.

1973: Finley, David Edward. A Standard of Excellence: Andrew W. Mellon Founds the National Gallery of Art at Washington. Washington, 1973: [94] repro, 102.

1980: Parronchi, Alessandro. Donatello e il Potere. Florence and Bologna, 1980: 101-115, 129-134, figs. 45, 46b.

1982: Herzner, Volker. "David Florentinus." The Burlington Magazine 24 (1982): 63-142.

1984: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 629, no. 973, repro., as by Donatello.

1985: Cropper, Elizabeth. "Prolegomena to a New Interpretation of Bronzino's Florentine Portraits." In Renaissance Studies in Honor of Craig Hugh Smyth. Andrew Morrogh, ed. Florence, 1985: 152-155, fig. 2.

1987: Lydecker, John Kent. "The Domestic Setting of the Arts in Renaissance Florence." Ph.D. dissertation, The John Hopkins University, Baltimore, 1987: 132-133.

1988: Krahn, Volker. Bartolomeo Bellano: Studien zur Paduaner Plastik des Quattrocento. Munich, 1988: 7.

1989: Civai, Alessandra. "Donatello e Roberto Martelli: nuove acquisizioni documentarie." In Cammerer, Monika, ed. Donatello Studien. Munich, 1989: 253-262.

1989: Wildmoser, Rudolf. "Das Bildnis des Ugolino Martelli von Agnolo Bronzino." Jahrbuch der Berliner Museen 31 (1989): 181-214.

199: Olszewski, Edward. "Prophecy and Prolepsis in Donatello's Marble David." Artibus et Historiae 18, 36 (1998): 78 n. 35.

1990: Civai, Alessandra. Dipinti e sculture in casa Martelli: Storia di una collezione patrizia fiorentina dal Quattrocento all'Ottocento. Florence, 1990: 126 fig. 4.

1991: Donato, Maria Monica. "Hercules and David in the Early Decoration of the Palazzo Vecchio: Manuscript Evidence." Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 54 (1991): 83-98.

1991: Kopper, Philip. America's National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation. New York, 1991: 201.

1993: Pope-Hennessy, Sir John. Donatello Sculptor. New York, 1993: 156.

1993: Rosenauer, Artur. Donatello. Milan, 1993: 314-315, no. 86.

1994: Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1994: 212, repro.

1995: Butterfield, Andrew. "New Evidence for the Iconography of David in Quattrocento Florence." I Tatti Studes in the Italian Renaissance 6 (1995): 116 n. 8.

1995: Coonin, Arnold Victor. The Sculpture of Desiderio da Settignano. Ann Arbor, 1995: 64-85.

1995: Rubin, Patricia Lee. Giorgio Vasari: Art and History. New Haven and London, 1995: 350 n. 152.

1999: Norman Herz, Katherine A. Holbrow and Shelley G. Sturman. "Marble Sculture in the National Gallery of Art: a Provenance Study." In Max Schvoerer, ed. Archéomatériaux: marbres et autres roches: ASMOSIA IV, Bordeaux, France 9-13 october 1995: actes de la IVème Conférence international de l’Association pour l’étude des marbres et autres roches utilizes dans le passé. Talence, 1999: 101-110.

2000: Caglioti, Francesco. Donatello e i Medici: storia del David e della Giuditta__. 2 vols. Florence, 2000: 1:167 n. 61, 211 n. 244, 251-253, 322; 2:figs. 254-255.

2001: Warren, Jeremy. "Bottega di Severo da Ravenna, Davide." In Augusti, Adriana, et al, eds. Donatello e il suo tempo: il bronzetto a Padova nel Quattrocento e nel Cinquecento. Exh. cat. Musei Civici, Padua, 2001: 162.

2003: Bremer-David, Charissa. "French & Company and American Collections of Tapestries , 1907-1959." Studies in the Decorative Arts XI, no. 1 (Fall-Winter 2003-2004):44.

2007: Desiderio da Settignano: Sculptor of Renaissance Florence. Exh. cat. Musée du Louvre, Paris; Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Milan, 2007: 63-64, fig. 35.

2009: Krahn, Volker. "Pastiche or Fake? A 'Donatello' by Medardo Rosso." Apollo (June 2009): 40-47.

2010: Collareta, Marco. "Painting and its sisters: Bronzino and the art system." In Bronzino: Artist and Poet at the Court of the Medici. Carlo Falciano and Antonio Natali, eds. Florence, 2010: 199.

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2011: Coonin, Arnold Victor. "Donatello, Desiderio da Settignano and the Martelli." In Connors, Joseph, Alessandro Nova, Beatrice Paolozzi Strozzi and Gerhard Wolf, eds. Papers from a colloquium held at the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence, Max-Planck-Institut, and at Villa I Tatti, The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies, Florence, May 9-12, 2007 on occasion of the exhibition in Florence dedicated to Desiderio da Settignano. Venice, 2011: 43-60, repro. 49, 54, 55, 349, pl VI, as by Donatello.

2013: "Vasari and the National Gallery of Art." National Gallery of Art Bulletin 48 (Spring 2013): 12, repro.

2017: Dickerson III, C.D. "The Sculpture Collection: Shaping a Vision, Expanding a Legacy." National Gallery of Art Bulletin 56 (Spring 2017): 6-7, repro.

2023: Mancuso, Piergabriele, Alice S. Legé and Sefy Hendle. The Jews, The Medici, and the Ghetto of Florence. Exh. cat. Gallerie degli Uffizi, Florence, 2023: 56, 202