Standing approximately five metres tall, Michelangelo’s David was the first colossus carved from a single block of marble since the time of the Romans. Apparently, Michelangelo ‘inherited’ the large slab after two other artists — Agostino di Duccio in 1464 and Antonio Rossellino in 1475 — had both began working the block before discarding it as unsuitable. With it came the commission to produce a large statue to be placed in one of the tribune alcoves or upon a buttress of Florence Cathedral below its famous Duomo. An Old Testament Biblical theme was a prerequisite but which one was open for discussion.
Michelangelo (di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni) was faced with an awkward shape that was not of his choosing and which had already begun to oxidise. Fresh marble is softer and easier to carve, as it becomes affected by the elements it hardens and its surface becomes much more ‘flakey’ and problematic to carve.
In one version of events, it’s said that Michelangelo spent many days sitting and looking at the huge hunk of imposing stone and when asked when he was going to begin work, he emphatically answered that he already had. He was visualising different figures within the stone and assessing which one…
