Social Question

josie's avatar

Was Michelangelo guilty of body shaming when he made the sculpture of David?

Asked by josie (30934points) December 4th, 2019

I’ve seen this statue a few times. It’s pretty impressive.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_(Michelangelo)

David is totally ripped, big shoulders, no body fat, and clearly comfortable having no clothes. (Sort of like me 15 or 20 years ago- oh well)

Is this an example of Renaissance body shaming?

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13 Answers

Mimishu1995's avatar

I don’t know, but as far as I can tell, nudity seemed to hold a very heavenly symbolism in Renaissance art. There are tons of painting with nudity, and most of them center around godly figures. I think the Renaissance thought of nudity very differently from modern people, like it symbolized purity/chosen by God or something.

I guess a Renaissance person looking at David would be like “omg this is truly the child of the God!” instead of thinking of shaming.

kritiper's avatar

No. Political correctness did not run amok in his day.

LadyMarissa's avatar

Just guessing…men were especially athletic back then. They didn’t have a TV nor a comfy sofa to sit on all day. They had no car so they walked everywhere they needed to go.They worked in the fields in order to feed their family. They didn’t use guns because swords & the bow & arrow were their method of killing the animals to feed their family as well. My Gramps was born in 1906 & he was a farmer. He was fairly well ripped compared to the men now days & he NEVER once stepped foot in a gym…plus, he lived to be 95 years old!!!

lucillelucillelucille's avatar

Rubens was guilty as well but in a different way.

mazingerz88's avatar

Not body shaming, maybe age shaming———why a young David, not older?

josie's avatar

@mazingerz88
The raised arm on the statue is holding a sling that hangs down his back- implying he has just killed or about to kill Goliath. Probably just killed Goliath given the posture. That means he was a kid.

Response moderated (Flame-Bait)
ragingloli's avatar

You forgot to mention his micropenis.

SEKA's avatar

Nothing wrong with a micropenis. It’s not the size of the ship but the motion of the ocean that counts

ragingloli's avatar

Tell that to the mothership in Independence Day Resurgence..

lucillelucillelucille's avatar

A micropenis was the thing to have back then.

Dutchess_III's avatar

It looks like an average sized penis to me.

No, I don’t think it was body shaming. I think he just had a love for the lines of the male body.. It was a “thing” during that era, I think.

Dutchess_III's avatar

I’d call it the opposite of body shaming, actually.
This is body shaming! And THAT is a micropenis!

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