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) Medici family in the 1430s to be placed in the centre of the courtyard of the old Medici Palace. Alternatively it may have been for that position in the new Palazzo Medici Riccardi, where it certainly was placed later, which would place the commission in the mid-1440s or even later. The statue is recorded there by Vasari and other sources. The Medici family were exiled from Florence in 1494, and the statue was moved to the courtyard of the Palazzo della Signoria (the marble "David" was already in the palazzo). It was moved to the Palazzo Pitti in the 17th