David (Michelangelo)

*David*
David
Artist	Michelangelo
Year	c. 1501 – June 8, 1504
Medium	Marble sculpture
Subject	Biblical David
Dimensions	517 cm × 199 cm (17 ft × 6.5 ft)
Location	Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence, Italy
Preceded by	Pietà
Followed by	Madonna of Bruges

David is a masterpiece^[1]^[2] of Italian Renaissance sculpture, created from 1501 to 1504 by Michelangelo. With a height of 5.17 metres (17 ft 0 in), the David was the first colossal marble statue made in the early modern period following classical antiquity, a precedent for the 16th century and beyond. David was originally commissioned as one of a series of statues of twelve prophets to be positioned along the roofline of the east end of Florence Cathedral (Duomo di Firenze), but was instead placed in the public square in front of the Palazzo della Signoria, the seat of civic government in Florence, where it was unveiled on 8 September 1504. In 1873, the statue was moved to the Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence, and in 1910 replaced at the original location by a replica.

The biblical figure David was a favoured subject in the art of Florence.^[3] Because of the nature of the figure it represented, the statue soon came to symbolize the defence of civil liberties embodied in the 1494 constitution of the Republic of Florence,^[4] an independent city-state threatened on all sides by more powerful rival states and by the political aspirations of the Medici family.

^ Paolucci, Antonio (2004). Bracci, Susanna; Falletti, Franca; Matteini, Mauro (eds.). Exploring David: Diagnostic Tests and State of Conservation. Giunti Editore. p. 12. ISBN 978-88-09-03325-2. The David in Florence's Accademia is young Michelangelo's masterpiece.
^ Buonarroti, Michelangelo; Paolucci, Antonio (2006). Michelangelo's David. Harry N. Abrams. p. 7. ISBN 978-1-903973-99-8. ...a masterpiece of throbbing vitality.
^ See, for example, Donatello's two sculptures of David; Verrocchio's bronze David; Domenico Ghirlandaio's painting of David; and Bartolomeo Bellano's bronze David.
^ Pocock, John Greville Agard (2016) [1975]. The Machiavellian Moment: Florentine Political Thought and the Atlantic Republican Tradition. Princeton University Press. p. 103. ISBN 978-1-4008-8351-6.

[Paolucci2004-1] Paolucci, Antonio (2004). Bracci, Susanna; Falletti, Franca; Matteini, Mauro (eds.). Exploring David: Diagnostic Tests and State of Conservation. Giunti Editore. p. 12. ISBN 978-88-09-03325-2. The David in Florence's Accademia is young Michelangelo's masterpiece.

[BuonarrotiPaolucci2006-2] Buonarroti, Michelangelo; Paolucci, Antonio (2006). Michelangelo's David. Harry N. Abrams. p. 7. ISBN 978-1-903973-99-8. ...a masterpiece of throbbing vitality.

[3] See, for example, Donatello's two sculptures of David; Verrocchio's bronze David; Domenico Ghirlandaio's painting of David; and Bartolomeo Bellano's bronze David.

[Pocock2016-4] Pocock, John Greville Agard (2016) [1975]. The Machiavellian Moment: Florentine Political Thought and the Atlantic Republican Tradition. Princeton University Press. p. 103. ISBN 978-1-4008-8351-6.

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