Michelangelo's David is a pivotal work of art housed in the Galleria dell/Accademia, Florence and called a masterpiece of the Renaissance. The 26 year old savant was handed the commission in 1501 and it took him 3 years to complete the 5.17 meter marble sculpture. It portrays the Biblical David at a moment of contemplation, perhaps, just before his battle with Goliath.
Historians and critics have suggested that it's a defense of civil liberties embodied in the Florentine republic, an independent city state. Originally the position of the sculpture was with David's eyes turned defiantly towards Rome.
The Renaissance aesthetic is apparent in the careful and accurate depiction of the human body and its representation as a nude.
The sculpture has been duplicated many times, perhaps in part, a recognition of its importance in western art.
This panoramic shot of Florence in the evening provides a view of the key sites:- the Arno River
-the Ponte Vicchio (Old Bridge)- the only bridge to have survived World War 2, built in the fourteenth century
- the Palazzo Vecchio (Old Palace) with Campanile (bell tower)
- the domed cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore or Duomo
- the Uffizi art gallery and other state buildings
Florence has been called the art capital of Italy.
Jonathan Jones for the Guardian writes of the Uffizi, "Its collection originated in the collections of the Medici family, and goes back to the 16th, even the 15th century. And it is full of incomparable art, from the paintings of Giotto and Duccio to Leonardo da Vinci's Adoration of the Magi and Caravaggio's Medusa. It has fascinating frescoes in its corridors and a view across the river Arno. There's even a cafe terrace looking out over the Florence skyline."
