David Dancing before the Arc

The full range of relief has been used, with the extremely high relief creating deep recesses and sharp contrasts of light and dark for dramatic effect, characteristic of the Baroque. David and the three men following him frame and thereby accentuate the Ark above, with the low relief of the Ark itself creating the sense that it is emerging from the space behind. This energy disrupts the transportation of the Ark, in a scene that resembles classical bacchanals, marrying chaos with joviality, and with a similar emphasis on music and dance. The two men holding the animals in the foreground represent different stages of the male form, from a bent to a standing position. This technique, generally associated with the Renaissance, is also found in classical sculpture, to signal the skill of the artist in rendering variety in human form.

Various features suggest that this composition was designed to be cast in metal rather than carved in marble. These include the protruding limbs of the figures that would have been especially vulnerable in marble - as indicated by the damage sustained by the brittle terracotta. Similarly, the sketchy low-relief incisions of the background figures, foliage and landscape would have translated well into the wax and ultimately to the finished cast metal, in which they would have more easily reflected light, and thus perhaps given the impression of greater depth.