Title: David and Michelangelo: Heart and Stone
Author: Dr. Steven Harrison and Richard Huizinga
Publisher: Westbow Press
ISBN: 978-1-9736-4655-6
Pages: 110
Genre: History
Reviewed by: Ella Vincent

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David and Michelangelo: Heart and Stone is an insightful book about two David’s in history: David in the Bible and artist Michelangelo’s famous David statue. Dr. Stephen Harrison and Richard Huizinga have written a text that will educate readers.

David and Michelangelo: Heart and Stone is an analysis of King David in the Holy Bible. Harrison and Huizinga see Michelangelo’s David as an idealized representation of King David. The renowned statue shows David as a brave warrior with a perfect physique that stands 17 feet tall in the statue. However, Harrison and Huizinga present King David as a complicated man. He is presented as a brave warrior who slayed the giant Goliath, but is also presented in the text as a flawed leader.

The book shows that David was a negligent father who did little to comfort his daughter Tamar when she was raped by her half-brother, Amnon. Harrison and Huizinga hypothesize that King David still felt guilt about his affair with Bathsheba and had her husband, Uriah, killed. Despite King David’s imperfect life, he acknowledges that God has blessed him to become successful in battle and to become king.

David and Michelangelo: Heart and Stone is a well-researched book which delves deeply into Biblical and art history. Harrison and Huizinga present evidence of David’s actions through many books of the Bible and verses of the Good Book as well. The text wisely uses quotes from the Bible to support their analyses of King David. The book also juxtaposes a portrait of the flawless King David in the Renaissance-era marble statue with the complex king the statue is based on in an insightful comparison. The book also makes a brave observation that Biblical figures aren’t as perfect as they have been presented before. The text manages to show that people in the Bible were imperfect and needed God’s grace and forgiveness.

This book would be best for readers who want to study the Bible n depth and want to learn more about major figures in the Bible, in particular King David. The book would be ideal for fans of Biblical history books like Gods and Kings by Lynn Austin. David and Michelangelo: Heart and Stone could be part of a lesson in Bible study class. This book even has helpful questions at the end of each chapter that can be asked in discussion groups. David and Michelangelo: Heart and Stone would also be a good text for readers who want to learn more about art history.

This is a text that offers a unique connection between art and Biblical history. Harrison and Huizinga have written a book that will enlighten readers.