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– 1504
– 1504n
n Seventeennfeet tall and made of marble, the statue ofnDavid is one of the most famous statues in the world.
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nMichelangelonbegan this sculpture in 1501 and completed it on this date in 1504. The statue was paid for by thenwool-workers of Florence, Italy, where the statue still stands; thenwool-workers felt that David was a good symbol for their town becausenhe was a shepherd and because he faced—and beat—the giantnGoliath. n
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nThenstatue shows David just as he is turning to face Goliath. He isnconsidered to be sending a warning glare at the giant—and thenstatue was positioned to be sending this glare in the direction ofnthe much larger and more powerful city of Rome.
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nThenstatue of David is still considered a symbol of the City of Florence,nbut it has been moved from its original position. It used to standnin front of the entrance to the Palazzo Vecchio, but it was movednindoors to the Accademia Gallery in order to protect it from damage.nUnfortunately, it is hard to protect it from any and all possiblendamage. In 1991 a madman with a hammer attacked the statue and wasnable to damage one foot before he was stopped!
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Thenoriginal spot for the statue isn’t empty—a replica stands there.nThere are a lot of replicas of this statue, all over the world,nincluding a plaster cast in the Victoria and Albert Museum.nApparently, that particular replica has a detachable fig leaf thatncould be hung to cover the statue’s nudity whenever Queen Victoriancame to the museum!
Thenoriginal spot for the statue isn’t empty—a replica stands there.nThere are a lot of replicas of this statue, all over the world,nincluding a plaster cast in the Victoria and Albert Museum.nApparently, that particular replica has a detachable fig leaf thatncould be hung to cover the statue’s nudity whenever Queen Victoriancame to the museum!n
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I’venseen several replicas of the statue, two of which were full size.nI’ve also seen the original, and marveled at the beauty and thenoversized hands. (If you ever see the statue or a replica, take anpeek at how enormous the hands are! I read that the statue wasnoriginally intended to be on a cathedral roofline, so important partsnof the sculpture had to be emphasized to be visible from below.)
I’venseen several replicas of the statue, two of which were full size.nI’ve also seen the original, and marveled at the beauty and thenoversized hands. (If you ever see the statue or a replica, take anpeek at how enormous the hands are! I read that the statue wasnoriginally intended to be on a cathedral roofline, so important partsnof the sculpture had to be emphasized to be visible from below.)n
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nInknow that several of the replicas are supposed to be “exactncopies,” hand-carved from the identical kind of marble (Carraranmarble) from the same quarry where Michelangelo got his marble. I’ve heard that a sculptor copying a statue must make a lot ofnmeasurements with calipers, and must carve away very, very slowly,nmeticulously, constantly measuring and comparing to get thenproportions exactly right. But…I still don’t see how copies can be made so well!
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| Calipers |
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nLearnnmore about Michelangelo.
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nArt Smarts 4 Kids has an artist profile.
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nMichelangelo’snDavid is an example of “subtractive sculpture,” which meansncarving away what you don’t want to be part of a figure, rather thannbuilding up a figure with clay or other materials. Try to carve a barnof Ivory soap using a butter knife and a toothpick to see howndifficult subtractive sculpture can be! (Of course, Michelangelo did carve soft soap—he carved hard marble!)
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nAlsonon this date:
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Anniversary of the use of math to stop an epidemic
Anniversary of the use of math to stop an epidemic n
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nPremiere Day
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