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Here, Michelangelo breaks away from the traditional way of representing David. He does not present us with the winner, the giant's head at his feet and the powerful sword in his hand. Rather, he portrays the youth as tense with a sense of gathering power immediately preceding the battle. Perhaps he has caught him just in the moment when he has heard that his people are hesitating, and he sees Goliath jeering and mocking them. Michelangelo places him in the most perfect contraposto, as in the most beautiful Greek representations of heroes. The right-hand side of the statue is smooth and composed while the left-hand side, from the outstretched foot all the way up to the disheveled hair is openly active and dynamic. The muscles and the tendons are developed only to the point where they can still be interpreted as the perfect instrument for a strong will, and not to the point of becoming individual self-governing forms.
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Western Europe
