Florence in Virtual Photos: Michelangelo's David

[jack]

There are a million reproductions and photos of this, but they really seem very forgettable, however, the real thing is incredible. If you want to be impressive, obviously being twenty foot high and made out of marble is a good start, as is standing by yourself in a big lighted dome at the end of a corridor of smaller artworks. But it's ever so vivid, there are not lots of details, but there are really good details, and being so, you know, big, sort of makes them stand out, and the shape is marvellous. It really looks like it might step down from its pillar at any moment, and it's easy to ignore other visitors and just sit and watch.

Comments

[ewx.livejournal.com]

Do you know, it'd never occurred to me that it was taller than life-size. A bit ironic given David's interaction with the famously tall Goliath l-)

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Once at school the teacher asked us a morsel of general knowledge, to look up if we liked, where there was a statue of David twice[1] as big as Goliath was, but I understood that to be the statue portrayed both of them in those proportions (not that I knew where a 20ft David statue was at the time, but it would have seemed more likely :)).

Oh yes. Part of the impressiveness is just being so natural so big. (Part of it is imagining carving that sucker. A 20ft block of marble was bought, hauled it to Florence, work started and then abandoned for twenty years, then you start over, and are just nearing completion. You really don't want to make a mistake then :))

[1] Or eight times, I don't remember.

[hatam-soferet.livejournal.com]

Sheesh, I never knew all that. Wow. I'm so glad you're there seeing all that awesome stuff!