David. by [PAPER]. D'AMBROSIO, Joseph.

Cast paper statue of Michelangelo’s David being a maquette for D’Ambrosio’s forthcoming book “D’Ambrosio’s David” which was issued in 1993. In his auto-biography ‘A Memoir of Book Design”, D;Ambrosio remarks that the cast paper statues were created first and were only drawn into a book 5 years later.
In the letter to Metcalf, D’Ambrosio describes his process in making the cast, first using a clay model then making a latex mold which he then used to make a statue out of paper pulp with a sizing of wheat paste and a fungicide. D’Ambrosio also suggests that Metcalf might include the model in an upcoming exhibition on paper at the Huntington Library as the work “illustrates the almost limitless possibilities of paper”.
Edwards Huntington Metcalf, the recipient of this model, was an enthusiastic collector of paper and papermaking, he was also a benefactor of the library and gardens founded by his grandfather Henry E. Huntington.