This is Donatello’s marble David from around 1408 (see previous entry). I’m convinced that Michelangelo learned something from this David and from Donatello’s St George, which is also in the Bargello in Florence. The way the figure gazes off into the distance reminds me of that most famous of all Davids. Donatello has made this David’s features soft, as if he is still a boy but on the cusp of manhood; indeed, perhaps having just crossed that very threshold with his killing of Goliath. His mouth is small, indicating boyhood, but his stance and gaze give him a confidence beyond years.