Discover How Michelangelo Came to Carve the David from a Badly Blocked Piece of Carrara Marble
Michelangelo accepted the challenge of creating a statue for the cathedral of Florence.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Pope Clement VII commissioned Michelangelo to paint a fresco in the Sistine Chapel in 1534.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Learn about Michelangelo's Pietà of 1499, portraying the Virgin Mary holding Jesus Christ after the Crucifixion, by examining the sculpture in detail.
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Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, MainzLearn about the cattle and butteri (cowboys) of Maremma, Tuscany, Italy.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Marble quarrying and fabrication near Velingrad, Bulg.
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Transcript
[Bells ringing]
CONDIVI: The Board of Works of the Cathedral owned a piece of marble nine cubits in height which had been brought from Carrara some hundred years before and blocked out by Master Agostino of Florence, and badly blocked. Michelangelo, however, said that he could extract a good thing from the marble, and it was offered to him. He accepted, added no pieces, and carved his David, the slayer of Goliath.
As I have said, it was the opinion of all that no one was capable of extracting a statue from the block, and that it was useless for any good purpose. This revival of a dead thing was a veritable miracle.
CONDIVI: The Board of Works of the Cathedral owned a piece of marble nine cubits in height which had been brought from Carrara some hundred years before and blocked out by Master Agostino of Florence, and badly blocked. Michelangelo, however, said that he could extract a good thing from the marble, and it was offered to him. He accepted, added no pieces, and carved his David, the slayer of Goliath.
As I have said, it was the opinion of all that no one was capable of extracting a statue from the block, and that it was useless for any good purpose. This revival of a dead thing was a veritable miracle.
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