Uncover the Story Behind Michelangelo's Marble Statue of David, the Slayer of Goliath
David sculpture by Michelangelo.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Impressionism is a style of art that showcases natural light, movement, and moments.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.The Laughing Cavalier was painted in 1624 by Dutch artist Frans Hals.
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Checkerboard Film Foundation (A Britannica Publishing Partner)Works of Ellsworth Kelly and Jack Shear are shown as Shear walks to Mount Lebanon Shaker Village, Old Chatham, New York, with Jerry Grant of the Shaker Museum, from the documentary Kindred Aesthetics: Mt. Lebanon Shaker Village, Ellsworth Kelly & Jack Shear (2011).
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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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Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, MainzOverview of the Statue of Zeus.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Olive orchards and vineyards in Tuscany, Italy.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Michelangelo accepted the challenge of creating a statue for the cathedral of Florence.
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.