Andrea del Verrocchio’s bronze statue of "David," newly restored to its original splendor, is the centerpiece of an exhibit of Florentine Renaissance art at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. The brief window of opportunity to see this special show opened Feb. 13 and will close March 21, when the statue will return to the Bargello Museum in Florence.

The statue portrays the young shepherd boy at the moment of his triumph over Goliath. It will be seen, for the first time, next to two of the National Gallery's own "Davids": the unique painting of a slingshot-swinging David on a shield by Andrea del Castagno, and the Casa Martelli David, a lifesize marble statue believed to have been begun by Donatello, the most famous of early Renaissance sculptors.

All three works embody a civic fascination in 15th century Florence with the Biblical hero who killed Goliath. In an era when the idea of separation of church and state would have bewildered political leaders, the "David" carried an overt political message. Portraying him as a youth, rather than as a mature king, also appealed to leaders newly aware of the potential of their children, if properly formed, to shape the republic's future.

Prof. Gary Radke of Syracuse University, who consulted in the sculpture’s restoration, conjectures that, at the time Verrochio's work was acquired in 1476, Florence was a "rising republic" among the established city-states of Italy. He adds, "the youthful David represents the triumph of the small man over larger adversaries" and is "symbolic of the emergence of Florence as a major political and economic force."

But also, as today, David was seen by Christians as prefiguring the Savior in His conquest of sin and death. In Cycle A, used this year for RCIA masses, the first reading of the fourth Sunday in Lent (March 21) recounts how God picked David, Jesse's youngest son, to be anointed by the prophet Samuel. "He was ruddy, a youth handsome to behold and making a splendid appearance." Samuel sent the shepherd boy to play the harp to soothe King Saul. One day, while bringing provisions to his soldier brother in the Israeli camp, David heard the giant, Goliath of Geth, challenging Israel to single combat.

David volunteered, with God’s help, to slay the Philistine, and even refused Saul's armor, taking only his faith in the God of Israel into battle. He anguished Goliath with a slingshot and decapitated him. Verrochio portrayed this moment in his statue. Clad in military garb (perhaps St. Paul's "full armor of God"), the spunky lad smiles as he swings his sword over the giant's head.

Verrocchio's "David" was made between 1465 and 1470 for the powerful Medici family, the de facto rulers of Florence. In 1476 the Medici heirs sold the bronze to the city government. Since then it has undergone several changes. One revelation of the recent scientific study of the work is that the head of Goliath was separately cast from the statue and apparently intended to lie beside David's feet. It was recast and placed between his feet, apparently to fit into a smaller space in its new home, the Palazzo Vecchio.

Over the past five centuries, layers of patina were applied for preservation and appearance. The patinas blackened the work and made it possible to exhibit it outdoors. In the restoration process, after most of the black layers were soaked off with a baking soda poultice, a laser beam was used to vaporize just the unwanted material. As this work proceeded meticulously, using a microscope, not only did the delicate gilding reemerge, but many details that had been lost to view. The gilding includes even a glint in David's eyes, surely the spark of divine grace bestowed on the Lord's anointed.

The restoration was done by Ludovica Nicolai under the supervision of the national restoration laboratories of the Opificio delle Pietre Dure.

Just as Verrocchio's statue has shed its crust, this is the season to shed our spiritual old skin and prepare for our Lenten journey, in order to be cleansed and restored for the Easter of our lives. David was a king, psalmist, prophet —and celebrated penitent, a worthy companion for Lent. As in II Kings, xxiii, 2, "The spirit of the Lord hath spoken by me and his word by my tongue," many of his psalms refer to the suffering, the persecution, and the triumphant deliverance of Christ.

David's qualities and his very name are attributed to the Messiah. Incidents in the life of David are regarded by the Church fathers as foreshadowing the life of Christ. Bethlehem is the birthplace of both; the shepherd’s life of David parallels Christ as the Good Shepherd; and the five stones chosen to slay Goliath are symbolic of the five wounds inflicted in the crucifixion.

David’s betrayal by his trusted counselor, Achitophel, and the passage over the Cedron (II Kings xv, 23) remind us of Christ’s sacred passion and resurrection from the dead.

The exhibit is rounded out by other works by Verrocchio and other sculptures and drawings of David from the same period. It was organized by the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, in collaboration with the National Museum of the Bargello in Florence, Italy. The Washington curator is Elonora Luciano, assistant curator of sculpture for the National Gallery of Art.