The statue is disproportionate because of the marble block which was previously deemed unworkable He, too, quickly deemed the marble unusable, and the block lay in the courtyard of the Opera del Duomo for another 25 years. The block was untouched for 10 years until Antonio Rossellino tried to salvage the piece. The quarry struggled to prepare and ship the massive block, and when it finally arrived in Florence, Duccio realized his error and gave up on the project. Duccio traveled to the nearby quarries of Carrara to select a marble block, but his inexperience led him astray: he hewed a tall but narrow block full imperfections, tiny holes, and visible veins. The project was initially awarded to Agostino di Duccio, despite his lack of experience with large-scale sculpture. These were meant to be sculpted on the ground, then raised roughly 260 feet into niches of the cathedral’s tribunes. The Statue of David was originally commissioned in 1464 by the Opera del Duomo, as part of a series of large statues for the Florence Cathedral. David pre-dates Michelangelo: It was merely a rough slab of marble for ~35 years, deemed unusable for a sculpture until Michelangelo worked his magic This replica of David is still on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.ģ. The Queen was so distressed, in fact, that a fig leaf was cast out of plaster to preserve the statue’s modesty and protect the prim ladies of the court. However, when the Queen was presented with the sculpture, she was horrified, the statue’s full nudity a deep affront to her Victorian sensibilities. One of our favorite replicas is in England, sent as a gift from the Grand Duke of Tuscany to Queen Victoria in 1857. The first is in the Piazza della Signoria in front of the Palazzo Vecchio, where the David statue was originally erected the second stands in the Piazzale Michelangelo and is cast in bronze. In addition to trinkets, there are also 30 life-sized replicas of David around the world, with the most famous of them in Florence itself. If imitation is the purest form of flattery, Michelangelo would be blushing: the Statue of David has been reproduced in countless ways, from pictures in coffee-table art books, to small replicas of every shape and color, to kitchen aprons (you know the ones). There are 30 life-sized replicas of David around the world The statue’s size is the result not of an overblown artistic ego (though Michelangelo was notoriously temperamental), but of simple logistics: originally intended for placement in a ceiling niche of the Florence Cathedral, the sculpture had to be sizeable enough to be viewed from the pews below.Ģ. The “lithe” youth weighs nearly 12,500 pounds and stands a staggering 17 feet high (for the visual learners out there, that’s roughly the equivalent of a 2-story building, or an adult giraffe). This classic underdog tale stars a feeble boy, but Michelangelo David is a pinnacle of male perfection. Michelangelo drew inspiration for this sculpture from the Biblical story of David, the tale of a young shepherd boy who saved the Israelites by slaying the warrior giant Goliath wielding only a sling and a handful of stones. It is roughly the size of a 2-story building, or an adult giraffe Thanks to our Florentine art historians, these are a choice ten facts about the Statue of David that give you a peek behind its perfect veneer: 1. Even today, 500 years after its completion, that fame endures, drawing curious travelers from around the world to Florence for a glimpse of greatness.Īs frequent visitors ourselves (the Statue of David is a highlight of our Michelangelo in Florence tour), we’ve amassed quite an array of, well, context, about this Michelangelo masterwork. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, it was the David that made the young artist famous. Though Michelangelo’s genius as a sculptor had already been proven two years earlier when he completed the Pietà for St. Oft-cited as the world’s most beautiful -and chiseled-man (and undoubtedly one of its most recognizable sculptures), David was crafted from 1501-1504, when Michelangelo was just 26 years old. Valentino, Marcello, and, yes, Fabio-even in a land of uomini so famously handsome they go by first name only, not one has yet eclipsed the splendor of Michelangelo’s David. Whether you're using our seminars to enhance your itinerary, to learn more about Michelangelo, or the Statue of David, we've got you covered from start to end. Italy is reopening its borders and it's time to start planning your next trip.
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