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Michelangelo's David and Pietà are both carved from Carrara marble, the white stone of the Apuan Alps in Tuscany, which the Romans were quarrying more than 2,000 years ago and which is still cut there today.

Sculpture (Carrara marble)

ArtHistory

The story behind the card

The block that became David came from the Fantiscritti quarry, an old Roman quarry at the heart of the Carrara marble basins. In 1465 the sculptor Agostino di Duccio chose it for a giant statue for Florence Cathedral. He roughed out the legs, feet and torso, then stopped when work halted in 1466; a contract with Antonio Rossellino in 1476 was also cancelled. For another twenty-five years the marble lay neglected and exposed to the weather in the yard of the cathedral workshop. On 16 August 1501 Michelangelo, then 26, signed the contract and carved the David from it.

Türkçe oku
Michelangelo'nun Davut'u da Pietà'sı da Carrara mermerinden yontulmuştur. Toskana'daki Apuan Alpleri'nden çıkan bu beyaz taşı Romalılar 2.000 yıldan uzun süre önce çıkarmaya başladı; bugün de aynı dağlarda kesilmeye devam ediyor.

Davut'a dönüşecek blok, Carrara mermer havzalarının ortasındaki eski bir Roma ocağı olan Fantiscritti'den çıkarıldı. Heykeltıraş Agostino di Duccio, 1465'te Floransa Katedrali için yapılacak dev bir heykel için bu bloğu seçti. Bacakları, ayakları ve gövdeyi kabaca biçimlendirdi, ama iş 1466'da durdu; 1476'da Antonio Rossellino'yla yapılan sözleşme de bozuldu. Mermer yirmi beş yıl daha katedral atölyesinin avlusunda, açık havada, unutulmuş hâlde bekledi. 16 Ağustos 1501'de o sırada 26 yaşında olan Michelangelo sözleşmeyi imzaladı ve Davut'u bu bloktan yonttu.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Carrara marble
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