Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath
thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the
Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled."[7]

[Footnote 7: 1 Samuel, chapter xvii. verses 33-51.]

This heroic adventure of David is the subject of Michelangelo's
statue. The shepherd, having thrown off the king's armor, advances
naked and unhampered, carrying only the sling flung across his back.
The large muscular hand hanging by his side holds the piece of wood on
which the sling is hung. It is the hand that wrenched the lamb from
the lion's mouth and then seized the king of beasts himself by the
beard. The left hand, poised on the shoulder, holds the centre of the
sling where it bulges with the pebble. The youth scans the enemy
keenly, marking the spot at which to aim. In another moment the pebble
will be speeding on its way. His air of confidence makes us sure of
the victory. Determination like this must win the day.

Critics of sculpture tells us that the statue of David must have been
studied from a model of the age which Michelangelo imagined as that of
the shepherd lad at this time. The figure is that of a growing youth,
and although it is therefore not so beautiful as a type of perfectly
developed manhood, it has a rugged strength which makes it one of the
sculptor's most interesting works.




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