An ode to (Donatello’s) David
Surprising in form and in story,
my body so youthful and shiny.
Arse sticking out,
an androgynous pout,
am I myth, my Medici, or city?
Composed in the Bargello in Florence, March 2011
Donatello probably made his famous ‘saucey’ David for the courtyard of the Medici Palace in c.1440s, commissioned by his great patron Cosimo il Vecchio. The sculpture’s overt sensuality and suggestiveness has been the subject of extensive debate among art historians for the past few decades.
