Donatello's Bronze "David" and "Judith" as Metaphors of Medici Rule in Florence

Donatello's bronze "David" and "Judith" and "Holofernes" should be considered a de facto pair. As recently confirmed, they were the only two modern freestanding sculptures displayed in the outdoor spaces of the Medici Palace from about 1464-66 to 1495. The related discovery of an inscription praising "David" as a tyrant slayer accords with a similar inscription once on the "Judith" and "Holofernes." This new evidence is combined with a demonstration of how the two sculptures evoke John of Salisbury's writings and the Athenian statues known as the "Tyrannicides" to establish the Medici as defenders of Florentine liberty.