david michelangelo

The statue appears to show David after he has made the decision to fight Goliath but before the battle has actually taken place, a moment between conscious choice and action – fight and flight. His brow is drawn, his neck tense, and the veins bulge out of his lowered right hand. His left hand holds a sling that is draped over his shoulder and down to his right hand, which holds a rock. [24] The twist of his body effectively conveys to the viewer the feeling that he is in motion, an impression heightened with contrapposto. The statue is a Renaissance interpretation of a common ancient Greek theme of the standing heroic male nude. In the High Renaissance, contrapposto poses were thought of as a distinctive feature of antique sculpture. This is typified in David, as the figure stands with one leg holding its full weight and the other leg forward. This classic pose causes the figure’s hips and shoulders to rest at opposing angles, giving a slight s-curve to the entire torso. The contrapposto is emphasized by the turn of the head to the left, and by the contrasting positions of the arms.
Because of the nature of the hero it represented, the statue soon came to symbolize the defence of civil liberties embodied in the Republic of Florence, an independent city-state threatened on all sides by more powerful rival states and by the hegemony of the Medici family. The eyes of David, with a warning glare, were fixated towards Rome. [2]

Among them we have: The Bargello Museum where are conserved sculptures that correspond to the beginning of Michelangelo as sculptor. Here is the Bacco, one of the artist’s first sculptures and one of his rare profane works, the Tondo Pitti and the Bust of Bruto (Ritratto di Bruto).
Given the large number of tourists, it is recommended to book in advance the entrance to the museum. If you prefer to deepen your visit with the help of an expert guide, you can book a guided tour of the Accademia Gallery and perhaps combine it with a tour of the Uffizi Gallery and a visit of the city, visiting in this way the main attractions of Florence in a day.

Michelangelo, David, 1501-1504, marble
The David we are presented with here is a nude man with a very muscular physique. His veins are visible in his arms and hands as he clutches the stones with one hand and the slingshot in the other. His hands and his head appear to be disproportionally large for his body, possibly because they were deemed more visually important for viewers who would see the statue high up on the exterior of the cathedral. Also, his left leg, which straddles the rocky base upon which he stands, appears a big too long for his body. It accentuates the line of this leg as it forms an essential component in David’s contrapposto stance. Like the ancient Hellenistic and Roman sculptures who were masters at convincingly depicting the human anatomy, Michelangelo has depicted David so that his body responds to the stance he is in. David’s weight has been placed on his right leg while his left leg is at rest. Because of this, his hips have shifted with one side being higher than the other. In turn, this has caused David’s spine and midsection to curve slightly, and his right shoulder drops slightly below his left one.

When it was finished, the statue was placed in front of the entrance to the Palazzo Vecchio. During 1873 it was moved to the Accademia Gallery in Florence to protect it from damage. The statue currently attracts many visitors to the Accademia Gallery.
Michelangelo has carved the figure naked, in the way that Ancient Roman statues of Classical Gods were often made. He shows David before the fight, just as he is looking at Goliath and planning what to do.

8.That David’s eyes are flawed went unnoticed for centuries, perhaps due to the statues’ extreme height. However, the 20th-century Digital Michelangelo Project at Stanford University rendered complete images of the statue which revealed that the David’s left eye gazes forward while the right eye is focused on some distant spot.
6. Although it has remained in Florence for over 500 years, the Italian government recently asked the courts to decide whether the city or the country owns the David.

References:

http://www.florence-museum.com/michelangelo-david.php
http://www.italianrenaissance.org/michelangelos-david/
http://simple.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_(Michelangelo)
http://www.michelangelo.org/david.jsp
http://www.italianrenaissance.org/a-closer-look-michelangelos-painting-of-the-sistine-chapel-ceiling/