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Michelangelo's David, 5.17 metres tall, was carved in Florence between 1501 and 1504 from a single block of marble that other sculptors had begun and abandoned decades earlier. Michelangelo, then 26, turned the awkward, already-cut block into the first giant marble statue since ancient times.

Florence, 1501–1504

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The story behind the card

The block came from the quarries of Carrara and was bought in 1465 for a statue meant to stand high on Florence Cathedral. The sculptor Agostino di Duccio roughed out the legs and body and then stopped; Antonio Rossellino was hired in 1476 but soon dropped the job. The block, nicknamed il Gigante, “the Giant”, lay in the cathedral workshop yard, and an inventory of 1500 described it as badly blocked out. Michelangelo won the contract on 16 August 1501. The earlier cutting helps explain why the statue is unusually slender from front to back. When it was finished it was judged too heavy to lift onto the cathedral, so it was set in the city's main square, the Piazza della Signoria, as a symbol of the Florentine Republic. It moved indoors to the Galleria dell'Accademia in 1873, and a copy now stands in the square.

Türkçe oku
Michelangelo'nun 5,17 metre yüksekliğindeki Davut heykeli, 1501–1504 yıllarında Floransa'da yontuldu. Blok, başka heykeltıraşların onlarca yıl önce üzerinde çalışmaya başlayıp yarım bıraktığı bir mermerdi. Henüz 26 yaşındaki Michelangelo bu zor taştan, antik çağdan beri yapılan ilk dev mermer heykeli çıkardı.
Floransa, 1501–1504

Mermer Carrara ocaklarından geliyordu ve 1465'te Floransa Katedrali'nin yükseklerine konacak bir heykel için alınmıştı. Heykeltıraş Agostino di Duccio bacakları ve gövdeyi kabaca yonttuktan sonra işi bıraktı; 1476'da görevlendirilen Antonio Rossellino da kısa sürede vazgeçti. İtalyanca “Dev” anlamına gelen il Gigante lakaplı blok katedralin atölye avlusunda bekledi; 1500 yılındaki bir envanterde kötü yontulmuş olarak anılıyordu. Michelangelo sözleşmeyi 16 Ağustos 1501'de aldı. Heykelin önden arkaya alışılmadık ölçüde ince olması, bloğun daha önce yontulmuş olmasıyla açıklanır. Heykel bitince katedralin üstüne çıkarılamayacak kadar ağır bulundu ve Floransa Cumhuriyeti'nin simgesi olarak kentin ana meydanı Piazza della Signoria'ya kondu. 1873'te Galleria dell'Accademia'ya taşındı; meydanda bugün bir kopyası durur.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: David (Michelangelo)
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