David and Goliath - Michelangelo Buonarroti

David and Goliath

 Michelangelo Buonarroti - Painter

1509

Fresco

570 x 970 Cm
Sistine Chapel, the Vatican City

In this painting depicting the ancient story of David and Goliath, one sees David straddling Goliath and raising his right hand up in the air, about to strike the back of Goliath's head.  David's left hand is placed on the back of Goliath’s neck.  When looking at this depiction of the biblical story of David and Goliath, the posture of the figures forms a hidden message that Michelangelo has cleverly embedded in this painting.  The shape formed by the two fighting figures resembles the shape of the Hebrew letter gimel.  Why would Michelangelo include Hebrew letters in his work on the Sistine Chapel?  It was presumed that during his time at the court of Lorenzo de Medici in Florence, Italy, he came to the knowledge of Judaism. While Michelangelo was painting the Sistine Chapel, it was said that Michelangelo was influenced by his knowledge of Judaism to create the chapel with the same proportions as the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.  By copying the proportions of the Holy Temple, Michelangelo painted a “lost mystical message of universal love” into the Sistine Chapel.  The hidden Hebrew letters were meant to be discovered and decoded so that this message could be conveyed. The specific Hebrew letter in David and Goliath, the Hebrew gimel, symbolizes strength.  Michelangelo cleverly paints this symbol of strength into the story of David and Goliath, where David triumphs over the enormous Goliath with the strength bestowed upon him by God. 

References:

http://www.oddee.com/item_98643.aspx

http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/m/michelan/3sistina/5spandre/00_4pe2.html

Report by Lindsay Holden - 2015