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Michelangelo was the first superstar artist. He was a sculptor a painter an architect a poet and an engineer.
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An outsider touched by genius. His Statue of David, the most famous statue in the world,
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personifies the aesthetics of high Renaissance art, the politics of
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Renaissance Florence and the technical virtuosity of Greek sculpture.
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The story of Michelangelo's David is anything but the story of a teenage boy king who slew Goliath.
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In one of his poems, Michelangelo wrote (old Italian: "son d'esser bruto"): I know I am ugly.
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His nose was broken and appeared crushed into his face which he said gave him "the look of a beggar".
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He was tortured by his appearance and alienated from his own body. Despite or perhaps because of
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this, he would spend his life in pursuit of sublime perfection. He could do little about his own looks
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but he would make sure his David would be the standard by which male Beauty would be judged.
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Michelangelo believed that he was a tool of God. He wasn't creating a sculpture from marble, he
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was simply releasing the figure imprisoned within it. Unfinished work by Michelangelo
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gives us many insights into his techniques. Most sculptors would create a clay model and
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then mark up their block of marble to know where to chip. But Michelangelo worked mostly freehand,
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starting from the front and working back. To sculpt in marble you need the strength of
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an athlete and the dexterity of a surgeon. Any slip-up can destroy years of work.
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Michelangelo would start by what is called "roughing out". Taking the bulk of the weight off with a
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point chisel and a large mallet, for getting it down to the general shape of the sculpture.
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Then he'd use a tooth tool and a smaller hammer, for more detailed work in modeling the form
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As he needed more details, he'd use finer and finer tooth chisels. He would use a drill to get into
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the deeper crevices. Then he would refine using various smaller tools. Followed by finishing the
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surface with a tool like the "rasp", a sort of file. Finally he would polish the statue using abrasive
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pumice stones, and then leather until it is smooth and glossy. If we look at his unfinished work here,
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we can clearly see the sculpture emerging from the stone. The marks we see here were made by
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Michelangelo's own hands. The outer part show us where Michelangelo started to cut away the stone
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with a large pick and a mallet, and in this area we can clearly see he has used a tooth chisel.
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Here on the chest we see even more detail, and the marks are fainter where he has used much finer tools.
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Michelangelo was 26 when he was asked to sculpt a colossal statue of the biblical hero David,
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to be placed on the roof of the Cathedral in Florence, 80 metres above street level.
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Only two years before he had carved the achingly beautiful "Pietà" in Rome, and he was already
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considered a master. He was asked to use an old block of marble already owned by the cathedral
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that had been sitting around for 50 years. Two other sculptors had attempted to use it but
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the marble was flawed, and considered too narrow to produce a successful figure. One sculptor had
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even carved a large hole out between, what were to have been the legs of his figure, but where others
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saw flaws, Michelangelo saw opportunity. Because of the shape of the marble Michelangelo had to be
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precise. There was no room for manoeuvre. David had to look to the side - as there wasn't enough
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marble to have him facing forward - David had to be in the "contrapposto" position, so that his legs
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would fit around the large hole already in the marble. And he would have to be slender because
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of the depth of the marble.
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The story of David and Goliath is the Biblical story of the Philistine giant defeated by the teenage Israelite,
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armed only with his sling. The finale of the story is David cutting off his head and holding it up to the cheering crowd.
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Traditionally David had been portrayed at the point of victory. Triumphant over the dead Goliath.
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Florentine artist like Donatello and Verrocchio, depicted their own version of David - standing over Goliath's severed head.
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All statues are more than mere representations, but Michelangelo's take on it would be revolutionary.
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By removing the conventional attributes of the biblical hero, stripping him down, both
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literally and figuratively, Michelangelo also removes a simplistic reading of it as just an
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illustration of the story. And gives it a wider metaphorical meaning. For the first time in art,
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David is depicted BEFORE the battle, rather than the moment of victory.
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This changes everything.
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first and foremost Michelangelo's David depicts rationality. David isn't about to fight Goliath
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with brute strength, but with skill and reason. David represents the humanist ideal of a man,
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who can become a hero, by his intelligence and willpower alone. These are the virtues of the
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"thinking man" considered perfection, during the Renaissance. Michelangelo catches him at the
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peak of his concentration, as he contemplates the challenge ahead of him. David is no longer
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the traditional self-assured boy. Now he is shown as an apprehensive man. David's neck is tense,
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his thigh muscles are flexed, his nostrils are flared, and his brow is furrowed with fear.
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He is just about to glide easily and naturally into action. He is tense but contemplates the challenge ahead of him,
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with a calculated gaze. The rock is hidden inside his right palm, the slingshot rests on his shoulder,
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and hangs down his back - almost invisible. Emphasising that David's victory was intellectual.
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His chest appears to pulse with anxiety.
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Like all of Michelangelo's sculptures, the viewer sees David
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at a specific and pivotal point. It is not meant to be the whole story.
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David is in motion. The position he is in, is known as "Contrapposto" or "counter pose".
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It was invented by the ancient Greeks, and is a very natural and human way to stand.
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The red line show where his muscles are tense, and the yellow ones where his muscles are relaxed.
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Most of the weight is on one leg, with the other leg forward,
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causing the figures hips and shoulders to rest at opposing angles.
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Giving a slight "S-curve" to the entire torso, and therefore giving the statue a more dynamic look.
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The story of David and Goliath would come to represent the city of Florence itself.
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During the Renaissance, Italy was a collection of city-states, each with its own ruler.
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The newly independent Republic of Florence, saw itself as "the David of Italy".
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Holding out with unexpected strength against the Medicis,
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and the powerful and all-consuming influence of the Pope in Rome.
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This point was emphasised when David was placed in a secular spot rather than its intended religious one.
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Commissioned as a statue of the biblical story - in Michelangelo's hands it becomes something else entirely.
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The proportions of David are not typical of Michelangelo's work.
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The figure has an unusually large head and hands. But Michelangelo, who had dissected many cadavers
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understood the human body better than any physician. As per the commission, the statue was designed to be seen
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from 80 metres below. In 2010, a fibreglass replica was temporarily placed in the spot originally planned for David
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And we can clearly see that the proportions work perfectly when seen from below
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Nudity was unusual at the time for a biblical story, but the Renaissance was a decisive time
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for the nude in Western art. A renewed interest in ancient Greek and Roman art brought the human body
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to the forefront of artistic innovation. During the Renaissance, achievement in representing the body,
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became the standard for measuring artistic genius. It is far harder to depict a nude figure
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than a clothed one. It is a myth though, that Renaissance Europeans were comfortable with
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nude bodies in art, particularly when displayed in public. In fact, the city fathers had a garland of
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28 gilded copper leaves made, to protect David's modesty, and in later years he wore a fig leaf, as this photo from the 1860s shows.
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Why is the Jewish hero David, not circumcised?
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Again, we can trace this back to the inspiration for the Renaissance: The ancient Greeks and Romans.
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They regarded circumcision as barbaric, and there are no depictions of circumcision in ancient statuary.
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Also, the Catholic Church denounced circumcision in the Middle Ages.
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The Jewish figure of David has been placed into the Christian context of Florence. A hallmark of the high Renaissance.
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It has been remarked that David's penis is rather small. This was considered an indication of modesty and
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respectability, and shows that the biblical figure is in control of his own urges.
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We can contrast that with contemporary images of satyrs and other figures which represented evil sexuality
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David has a slight squint - it is rarely remarked on but his eyes point in slightly different directions.
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This is a typical Michelangelo trick, to pull us into the eyes of David.
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The pupils are carved out hollow, to capture the changing sunlight, adding to the intensity of the gaze.
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Michelangelo calculated every angle and always considered the position of the viewer.
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The details are extraordinary.
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My own favourite is the jugular vein, which is swollen. This only occurs when people get excited or nervous.
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Michelangelo understood this, over a century BEFORE scientists would describe the circulatory system.
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The veins in the raised left hand are delicate, while the veins in the hanging right hand are pulsing and more well defined.
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The way our blood circulates, this is exactly what would happen to our own hands in the same position
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Every detail points to Michelangelo's passion for human anatomy.
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Michelangelo, who never wasted a minute of his life, worked morning noon and night on David,
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alone and in total secrecy. At night he would attach candles to his hat. He rarely ate and
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when he did sleep, he slept in his clothes which he seldom, if ever changed.
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In 1504 he finally presented his giant to the cathedral committee. They were astonished at Michelangelo's
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skills, and agreed it was far too perfect to be placed at such a height.
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They decided to find a better location - and eventually decided it should be placed in the political heart of Florence.
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In Piazza della Signoria in front of the town hall where its copy still is today.
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One member of the committee tried to persuade them to place David in a less prominent place.
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His name?
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Leonardo da Vinci.
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David is truly a colossus. At nearly six metres tall and weighing six tons,
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it took four days and 40 men to move the statue half a mile from Michelangelo's workshop.
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In a gesture of defiance, David was placed facing south - towards Rome.
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Michelangelo, then added the finishing touches on site.
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Originally the sling and tree stump support were gilded with gold, as seen in these reconstructions.
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David received a rapturous reception from the Florentines,
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and right from the start it was hailed as a masterpiece - and a symbol of the Republic.
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The Italian sixteenth century historian, Giorgio Vasari wrote:
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"After seeing this, no one need wish to look at any other sculpture, or the work of any other artists".
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in 1873 David was moved to the Accademia gallery to protect it from environmental damage.
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And in 1910 a full-size copy was placed in the square.
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The fig-leaf was eventually removed and David could be seen as Michelangelo intended.
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Statues have power beyond their initial reading.
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One man's "hero" is another man's symbol of oppression.
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Michelangelo's David has had his fair share of controversies,
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but has always been on the side of the oppressed, the underdog.
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David represents the power to overcome adversity, in the face of insurmountable odds.
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And we can all relate to that.
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Michelangelo would go on to create many masterpieces. But his miraculous transformation of a
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shepherd boy into the physical embodiment of Florence, would prove to be a defining moment
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in his artistic career. He was an alchemist who turned marble into flesh and bone, and brought a
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psychological insight and physical realism to sculpture, never seen before.
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He died in Rome in February of 1564. Still working at the age of 88 years old,
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having outlived both his art rivals - Leonardo da Vinci AND Raphael.
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He was brought back to Florence, to be buried in Santa Croce church.
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Just a stone's throw away from his divine David.