Michelangelo's David - A Masterpiece With a Checkered Past

The bible's King David may well have beenFinally, in 1501 the as-to-now unlucky, spoiled piece
ancestor of Jesus, the greatest King of theof stone was given to a 26 year old assistant
ancient world and the history's first Alpha Male,sculptor by the name of Michelangelo. He boldly
but his beginnings and road to greatness were farpromised that he would complete the sculpture
from easy. Much like the biblical king, Michelangelo'swithout drastically cutting it down or adding new
Masterpiece, David, has a storied and checkedpieces to it.
early history.Everyone laughed at him (I guessing;-) )
The Block of Marble That Would Become a KingA King Is Born
The enormous block of marble that wouldIt took Michelangelo only 3 years to create on of
become David was quarried some 40 yearsthe world's great masterpieces. His
before Michelangelo got his hands and chisels on it.contemporaries were so in awe that they
It was delivered to the sculptor, Agostino diimmediately gave the statue a place of honor at
Duccio, an assistant to Donatello. Di Duccio didthe entrance of the Palazzo Vecchio. The statue
envision a statue of David from the piece, but westood in that spot, in the wind, weather and
will never know what it might have looked likeelements and accessible by the public, for 350
since he stopped work after 2 years, claiming theyears! So much for the "inferior" marble. In 1873
marble was to difficult to work.the statue was move to the Accademia Gallery in
Waiting for GreatnessFlorence, where it attracts many visitors
The partially sculpted stone sat around until 1474everyday.
with Antonio Rossellino tried his hand on it. But heLong Live the King
gave up after only a couple of months, blamingDavid is The 5.17 meters (17 feet) tall.
the marble's intractability.