Wednesday, February 22, 2012

David: Michelangelo (1504)

Over 3,000 years ago, a small teenager named David won a fight against a big man named Goliath. Ever since then, David’s victory has been celebrated in stories, paintings, and sculptures.

Michelangelo (1475-1564) was one person who celebrated David’s victory in sculpture. He worked on a statue of David between 1501 and 1504. He made a statue of David, but it is 17 feet (over 5 meters) tall: 8 feet taller than the original Goliath.

In 1501, Michelangelo started with a big block of marble. But this was not a plain piece of marble. Somebody else had already tried to make it into a statue of David. So Michelangelo had to try to make a beautiful work of art out of a piece of marble that was not only big but also used.

When Michelangelo’s work was done, David was put outside the Palazzo Vecchio, the Old Palace, which served as the city hall of Florence. Soon people came to see David as a symbol of the Republic of Florence. They liked seeing David looking strong and brave because Florence had many big bad enemies.

In 1873, David was moved to the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence. We may see it there today.

Copyright © 2012 by Steven Farsaci. All rights reserved. Fair use encouraged.