In the mid-nineties, my girlfriend and I traveled to Italy and I had the chance to see The David in Florence.
The photos are one thing, but being there and seeing his craftsmanship was mind blowing.
I couldn't fathom how a human being could produce such magnificence from one slab of marble.
I stood there transfixed for as long as I was permitted.
Commissioned by the Overseers of the Office of Works (the Operai) of the Duomo, Florence's cathedral in 1501 to be a symbol of the city, Michelangelo's Statue of David is regarded as one of the artist's, and the period's, most important sculptural works.
Standing 14 feet high and weighing over 5 tons it was carved from a single block of marble that had already rejected by other artists.
Michelangelo was only 26 when he began this work and unlike other statues of David, he depicted his subject before his battle with Goliath, using the contrapposto pose to convey his subject's pent-up sense of energy before battle.
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