David
The young David before his fight with Goliath, carved from a single block of marble that other sculptors had abandoned. The statue became a symbol of the small republic of Florence standing up to more powerful enemies.
The head and hands are enlarged – the statue was meant to be seen from below, high up on the cathedral.
In 1501 Michelangelo, then 26 years old, was commissioned to carve a statue of David. The patron was the cathedral’s board of works in Florence. The marble block had been quarried at Carrara several decades earlier. Two other sculptors had started work on it but given up, and the block had stood outdoors for many years. It was tall and narrow and difficult to use. People called the block “the giant”. Michelangelo worked on the statue for over two years in a workshop near the cathedral.
The statue was originally meant to stand high up on one of the cathedral’s buttresses. When it was finished in 1504 the city convened a committee of artists, among them Leonardo da Vinci and Botticelli, to decide where it should be placed. They chose the site in front of the Palazzo della Signoria, the city hall. There David became a symbol of the republic of Florence and its liberty against tyrants and powerful neighbours. Moving the statue to the site took several days, and it was hauled through the streets in a wooden frame.
David is young and naked and stands in contrapposto, with his weight on his right leg. The sling lies over his left shoulder, and in his right hand he probably holds the stone. His brow is furrowed and his gaze directed to the left, as if he has just caught sight of the enemy. Unlike earlier sculptors, Michelangelo does not show David after the victory, with Goliath’s head at his feet, but the moment before the fight.
The statue is just over five metres tall and weighs about six tonnes. The head and hands are large in relation to the body. This is usually explained by the fact that the statue was originally meant to be seen from below and at a great distance. The muscles, veins and tendons are carefully chiselled and show Michelangelo’s knowledge of anatomy. The marble has flaws, and the block was thinner than a sculptor would have wished.
During a riot in 1527 a bench was thrown out of a window of the city hall, and the statue’s left arm was broken. The pieces were gathered up and put back together. In 1873 David was moved indoors to the Galleria dell’Accademia to protect it from the weather and pollution. A marble copy has stood on the original site since 1910.
In 1991 a man damaged the statue’s left foot with a hammer. The damage was repaired. Ahead of the statue’s 500th anniversary in 2004 it was cleaned, work that sparked debate about the methods. Researchers have also drawn attention to small cracks in the ankles, which may be worsened by vibrations.
David has become one of the most famous sculptures in the world and a symbol of the Renaissance ideal of humanity. It has been copied in countless versions, and a cast can be seen in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, among other places. David has left its mark on Florence, where copies and images of the statue are everywhere.