The statues of liberty (1st part)
Silk is
obtained from the cocoons of the silkworm larvae also called "blackberry
worm" (Bombyx mori). The use of silk as a textile fiber originated in
China, probably in the fourth millennium before the common era. Over time it
became a coveted fiber for its texture and luster and became an important
element of trade in the Chinese Empire and its area of influence.
Later the
silk market spread to India, the Middle East and Europe. It was already used in
Egypt in the 11th century B.C. as evidenced by the silk fibers found in
Egyptian tombs of that time.
The value
of silk in the West was protected by the deliberate policies of China's
successive imperial governments that kept cultivation techniques (sericulture) secret.
Due to this
value and the growing demand, this commercial activity was intensified in such
a way that the main trade routes between Europe and Asia became known as the
Silk Routes.
For a long
time silk was one of the main components of the fabrics produced in the
European textile industries, particularly in the period between the 11th and 15th
centuries AD. The main silk importing shopping malls in Europe were the Italian
cities, in particular Venice, Florence and Genoa. Of these, Florence was
probably the one that most strongly developed its industrial potential, combining
silks from the East with special quality wool fibers produced in the British
Isles.
That
economic power of Florence was expressed in the expansion of its financial
network. The family of the Florence Medici, bankers of the Papacy, extended
their bank branches to several European countries, including Spain and Portugal,
and actively participated in the financing of the first expeditions to the New
World.
At the same
time, this prosperity was also manifested in his artistic development. At the
end of the XV century and beginning of the XVI century, Florence became the
main battering ram of the process of cultural renewal, which was called the
European Renaissance. Around the textile production two powerful industrial
corporations were established: the Arte della Seta and the Arte della Lana. Both
were main protagonists in the history of the Florentine republic.
The two
corporations occupied about a third of the city's workforce and were largely
the economic base of prosperity that enabled the city of Florence's
intellectual, artistic, and building boom.
At the
beginning of the 15th century, based on its economic boom, the Arte della Lana
corporation in Florence decided to erect statues of Old Testament characters to
be placed in the external buttress of the apse of the Cathedral of Santa María
del Fiore.
In order to
carry out this plan, in 1408, the works office of the Florence Cathedral (Opera
del Duomo) financially supported by Arte Della Lana hired two sculptors to make
statues of Biblical characters. Donatello was commissioned with a statue of
King David and Nanni di Banco with an image of the prophet Isaiah. The
commissions were carried out by both artists, although in the end the statues were
never placed in the cathedral as planned.
A few years
later, Donatello's David was sent to the Palazzo della Signoria, inside which
he remained for a long time. There was added a Latin legend that said: "To
those who fought valiantly for the homeland, the gods offered help even to the
most terrible enemies."
Half a
century later and trying to fulfill the original plan, the sculptor Agostino di
Duccio was commissioned to build another statue of King David, giving him a
marble block owned by the corporation that had been reserved for this purpose. From
1464 the artist tried to shape the stone, but his results were unsatisfactory
and the work was left unfinished, leaving the block practically useless.
The David
by Michelangelo Buonarroti
At the
beginning of the 15th century and with a long delay, it was decided to
commission the work to the young Florentine artist Michelangelo Buonarroti (in
Spanish known as Michelangelo) who got down to work in 1501.
Miguel
Angel worked hard in his workshop and finished the sculpture almost three years
later. His dedication to the work was very great and the result was impeccable.
The statue
of more than 5 meters high that was made up of a nude version of a youthful and
athletic man was completed in May 1504. At that time it was presented to the
Gonfaloniero of Florence, Piero Soderini, who suggested that a defect be
corrected. appreciated on the nose. Miguel Angel apparently agreed to make the
correction, went up the stairs to the face of the statue, and there he took
marble dust that he carried in a small bag and threw it while striking the
statue with his chisel.
It's OK now?
Asked the artist.
Now, yes, replied
the Gonfaloniero.
And so the
work was ready to be transferred to the square of the Palazzo de la Signoria.
It is a
paradox that the biblical character David, famous for his uneven combat with a
much bigger opponent, the Philistine Goliath, has been represented in a large
statue, much larger than the 3 meters high that was attributed to the opponent
of David.
In Florence,
the giant was not Goliath but David, and that is how the statue was called by
the population of the city.
The "Giant"
walked the alleys of Florence for four days and finally reached his destination.
The
trajectory was met with the opposition of some political opponents of the
Florentine government, perhaps supporters of the Medicis, or of the religious
leader Girolamo Savonarola himself scandalized by the nakedness of the effigy. During
the transfer there were people who threw stones at the passage of the great
statue.
The
sculptural work, scandalous for the time, was located in the central square of
the city and for greater challenge it was oriented with its face directed
towards Rome.
We can
assume that Michelangelo's David had a political rather than a religious
content. The statue was an affirmation of the sovereign republic of the
Florentines and of opposition to the oligarchic government of the Medicis and
the Papacy of Rome. In a way, David can be considered the Renaissance version
of the Statue of Liberty.
Reproduced from "Chronicles of human peripece", Danilo Anton, Piriguazú Ediciones
