But he was already well known. There was intense interest in David. Michelangelo worked on the sculpture in isolation, hidden way from prying eyes. When David was unveiled, the City Council was stunned. They decided that David was too beautiful for the top of the Duomo. Instead, David was placed outside the entrance of the Palazzo Vecchio in the Piazza della Signoria , Florence's seat of government.
David was moved by 40 men over four days. The city fell in love with the sculpture. The citizens deemed it a powerful symbol of the renewed Florentine republic, ready to defend itself. Originally, parts of David were gilded. But the gilded surfaces were lost during the statue's exposure to the elements.
In , after over years, David was moved inside to the Accademia. David hasn't lead the easiest life. In , republican insurgents threw stones and a bench out of the second floor window of the Palazzo Vecchio. The bench smashed off David's left arm and nicked off other bits. The pieces were recovered by a young Giorgio Vasari, who would go on to paint frescos inside the Palazzo Vecchio.
David was repaired. But then in , a deranged man took a hammer to the statue, damaging the left foot. That was also repaired. Despite being moved inside, David is still not safe. In fact, the sculpture is weak in the ankles. In , researchers made a dire discovery. There were tiny stress fractures in David's ankles moving up the legs. The right weight bearing leg was worse than the left leg. They concluded that, i f the 6 ton David was tilted even 15 degrees, the ankles would break and David would pitch forward and explode.
This state of affairs is due to partly to a defect in the design. The center of gravity of the sculpture doesn't align perfectly with the center of gravity of its base. The sculpture was also leaning during its year stint in the Piazza della Signoria, a situation caused by the ground shifting over time. Unfortunately, the fissures can't be fixed. But the gallery intends, at some point, to install an anti-seismic base to protect it during earthquakes or natural events.
Traditionally, David is portrayed after his victory, often holding Goliath's severed head. In January , his 14 foot tall David was unveiled only to them: they all agreed that it was far too perfect to be placed up high in the Cathedral, thus it was decided to discuss another location in town.
The city council convened a committee of about thirty members, including artists like Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli and Giuliano da Sangallo, to decide on an appropriate site for David. During the long debate, nine different locations for the statue were discussed, and eventually the statue was placed in the political heart of Florence , in Piazza della Signoria. Luca Landucci , herbalist and diarist living nearby, wrote down the exceptional event of the transport in his chronicles:.
They even had to tear down the archway, so huge he was. Forty men were pushing the large wooden cart where David stood protected by ropes, sliding it through town on trunks. Michelangelo then kept on working on the finer finishing.
That summer, the sling and tree-stump support were gilded, and the figure was given a gilded victory-garland. Unfortunately, all gilded surfaces have been lost due to the long period of exposure to weathering agents.
Nowadays, visitors can admire the David under a skylight which was designed just for him in the 19th century by Emilio de Fabris. Note the watchful eyes with carved eye bulks, pulsing veins on the back of the hands, engorged with tension. Admire the curve of the taut torso , the flexing of the thigh muscles in the right leg.
The figure has an unusually large head and imposing right hand. These enlargements may be due to the fact that the statue was originally intended to be placed on the cathedral roof line, so important parts of the sculpture had to be necessarily accentuated in order to be visible from below. Another interpretation about these larger details lead scholars to think that Michelangelo intentionally over-proportioned the head to underline the concentration and the right hand to symbolize the pondered action.
This website does not sell tickets or tours, but offers visitors the opportunity to book through affiliate links on third party websites. There are three Statues of David roaming around the city of Florence. The colossal and authentic foot-tall Statue of David is currently located in the Accademia Gallery, though its original home was the Piazza della Signoria.
When the Opera del Duomo first commissioned the statue, its location was intended for the Cathedral of Florence. The project began by Agostino di Duccio and Antonio Rossellino in and respectively; however, neither sculptor could curve the marble due to its substantial size.
Michelangelo, willing to complete the challenge, began the project in and ended in The only problem: the size of the finished product. Imagine a foot-tall statue situated on an elevated surface in the Cathedral—the intricacy of the detailing would have been lost. Therefore, a committee met to approve the Piazza della Signoria as the permanent home of the statue. Or so they thought. In , the statue was moved to the Accademia Gallery after experiencing weather damage.
The Accademia Gallery has preserved the Statue of David ever since. You can also visit the authentic Statue of David on the following tours:.
The Statue of David in this location is in fact a replica, though its resemblance to the original statue is uncanny to most travelers who pass by the square. Michelangelo's David is one of the most representative works of the Italian Renaissance as well as being one of the most famous sculptures in the world.
During the Renaissance, great Florentine sculptors such as Donatello, Ghiberti and Verrocchio carried out works by taking up the theme from the Bible where David is represented as a teenager, after having decapitated Goliath. However, Michelangelo decided to represent with this work the moment before the confrontation.
So we see a young David ready to hit the giant holding a stone in his right hand with a sling resting on his left shoulder. The tension of this young shepherd in front of his terrible enemy was represented by Michelangelo with details like an intense expression in his eyes, an accurate contraction of the muscles showing the veins in relief where it would seem that the blood ran. Definitely Michelangelo's David is a masterpiece of the history of Florentine art and one of the most famous works in the history of mankind.
With the entrance ticket of the Accademia Gallery you will have the opportunity to see the famous statue of the great Michelangelo in person. Given the large number of tourists, it is recommended to book in advance the entrance to the museum. If you prefer to deepen your visit with the help of an expert guide, you can book a guided tour of the Accademia Gallery and perhaps combine it with a tour of the Uffizi Gallery and a visit of the city, visiting in this way the main attractions of Florence in a day.
If you are passionate about the great Michelangelo, we suggest a visit with your guide to the House of Michelangelo Casa Buonarroti and the Accademia Gallery. Complete your visit and after admiring this imposing marble statue visit other attractions that preserved in its interior works of this formidable artist.
Among them we have: The Bargello Museum where are conserved sculptures that correspond to the beginning of Michelangelo as sculptor.
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