Michelangelo's David

I was familiar with Michelangelo’s statue of David before our Italy trip, and during the course of our first day in Florence saw about 1000 replicas of the infamous sculpture. We saw two life-size models, one located in the Piazza Michelangelo and another in the Piazza della Signoria, and countless souvenir versions that came in literally any size you could want.

The life-size replicas didn’t impress me, nor did any of the mini-versions catch my attention. Honestly, I wasn’t that excited about seeing Michelangelo’s David because the pictures I’d seen in history books or tourist magazines had never really interested me before. I was in for a treat, however.

Michelangelo’s David was STUNNING. Although I had seen pictures and replicas of it before, I was not prepared for the majesty of the actual statue. Neither pictures nor replicas do it justice. The grand scale of the statue, its placement in the museum, and the perfection of the body make it a stunning experience. You truly have to see the original.

It’s an incredible sculpture, and I think it’s very befitting of David that such a statue was made of him. It’s a perfect statue for him really, because the story of the piece can be an allegory for his life. There were many imperfections in the huge marble slab commissioned for the piece, and the original artist stopped the project quite early on, only beginning his feet and legs. The marble was neglected for 25 years after that, and then picked up again by Michelangelo, who spent 3 years sculpting the masterpiece.

David was a very sinful and flawed man, just like the marble used for the piece, and yet he had a penitent spirit and was called “a man after God’s own heart,” which is reflected in the beauty Michelangelo was able to create out of the imperfect marble. Even with his great imperfections, David sought God’s will and was obedient, and God was very pleased with his life. All in all, I find Michelangelo’s David to be a magnificent representation of the shepherd boy turned king.

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