Antique Monumental Grand Tour Bronze of Michelangelo David Circa 1880

Michelangelo's David

This astonishing Renaissance sculpture was created between 1501 and 1504. It is a 14ft marble statue depicting the Biblical hero David, represented as a standing male nude. Originally commissioned by the Opera del Duomo for the Cathedral of Florence, it was meant to be one of a series of large statues to be positioned in the niches of the cathedral’s tribunes, way up at about 80mt from the ground. Michelangelo was asked by the consuls of the Board to complete an unfinished project begun in 1464 by Agostino di Duccio and later carried on by Antonio Rossellino in 1475. Both sculptors had in the end rejected an enormous block of marble due to the presence of too many “taroli”, or imperfections, which may have threatened the stability of such a huge statue. This block of marble of exceptional dimensions remained therefore neglected for 25 years, lying withi David, marble sculpture executed from 1501 to 1504 by the Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo. The statue was commissioned for one of the buttresses of the cathedral of Florence and was carved from a block of marble that had been partially blocked out by other sculptors and left outdoors. After Michelangelo completed the sculpture, the Florentine government decided instead to place it in front of the Palazzo Vecchio. The original is now in the Accademia, and copies have been installed in the Piazza della Signoria and the Piazzale Michelangelo, which overlooks Florence.