David (Donatello) Roman type of mature, bearded head". Donatello's bronze statue of David (circa 1440s) is famous as the first unsupported standing work of bronze cast during the Renaissance, and the first freestanding nude male sculpture made since antiquity. It depicts David with an enigmatic smile, posed with his foot on Goliath's severed head just after defeating the giant. The youth is completely naked, apart from a laurel-topped hat and boots, bearing the sword of Goliath. The creation of the work is entirely undocumented, and it has been given a range of datings. According to one theory, it was commissioned by the
David (Donatello) 20th- and 21st-century art historians there has been considerable controversy about how to interpret it. The beard on the severed head curls around David's sandaled foot. Goliath is wearing a winged helmet. David's right foot stands firmly on the short right wing, while the left wing, considerably longer, works its way up his right leg to his groin. The figure has been interpreted in a variety of ways. One has been to suggest that Donatello was homosexual and that he was expressing that sexual attitude through this statue. A second is to suggest that the work refers to homosocial values