"You surely have compared these poses. I looked through a marvellous book of images – fotografie, no? Si ... photographs; how wonderful – anyway, I saw images of the holy figures at Reims Cathedral. I understand that these are well known examples of the Gothic sway pose; lovely, and masterfully crafted, but ...
Reims Cathedral
Reims Cathedral
Unknown artist, Madonna and Child, Medieval, ivory
images: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki
"But that is an unnatural way to stand. Try it yourself. Plant both feet firmly on the ground and stand straight. Now sway to one side so that your hip is out-thrust. Does this feel like the relaxed position you might take while waiting for example, in a long line at the bakery? No, it does not. In that case you would naturally assume the contrapposto pose, supporting virtually all your weight on one leg. The ancients knew this, but for some reason – modesty? perhaps; is the natural pose too sensuous? – sculptors or the Church decided that a sway was better. Either that or they simply forgot how to achieve the contrapposto. And of course nudity was certainly frowned upon by the Church, for all those hundreds of years. Imagine. What a silly waste.
Apoxyomenos, after Lysippos. plaster cast in Pushkin Museum, Moscow
images: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki
Donatello takes a deep breath, smiling. "Listen to me! I am preaching to the converted, no? I get carried away sometimes. The point is that with my bronze David I was privileged to shake the dust from these essential conventions. My David is a life-sized, lost wax bronze, nude and natural, and in the contrapposto pose – the first such sculpture since the time of the ancient Romans. What a thrill this was for me."
"Well," I added, "for Western art, and for all of us.
Donatello, David, c. 1440-50
This image, which was originally posted to Flickr.com, was uploaded to Commons
using Flickr upload bot on 21:59, 24 September 2008 (UTC) by Amadalvarez
"I know what a challenge this must have been. It is such a complex process, the lost wax technique."
"Ah, but this was the fun of it, David. If you like to make things with your hands, and to solve complicated problems, to invent, to work with tools, to have the help of dedicated craftsmen, to enjoy the physical aspect of your work – this is so much fun.
"Ah, but this was the fun of it, David. If you like to make things with your hands, and to solve complicated problems, to invent, to work with tools, to have the help of dedicated craftsmen, to enjoy the physical aspect of your work – this is so much fun.
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