David

From the feedback you gave us in the last survey we know, that what you really miss in DailyArt are sculptures. So here you are, let's start with the classic Michelangelo's David. For Michelangelo David proved to be a defining moment in his artistic career. Michelangelo was only twenty-six years old when he won the contract for David. He began work on Monday September 13th 1501 and it would take him two years to turn the marble block into the iconic image that we know and admire today. Because the statue was intended to be placed in a high location on the church, it had to be large enough to be seen from below. The David we are presented with here is a nude man with a very muscular physique. His veins are visible in his arms and hands as he clutches the stones with one hand and the slingshot in the other. His hands and his head appear to be disproportionally large for his body, possibly because they were deemed more visually important for viewers who would see the statue high up on the exterior of the cathedral. Also, his left leg, which straddles the rocky base upon which he stands, appears a bit too long for his body. It accentuates the line of this leg as it forms an essential component in David’s contrapposto stance. David’s weight has been placed on his right leg while his left leg is at rest. Because of this, his hips have shifted with one side being higher than the other. In turn, this has caused David’s spine and midsection to curve slightly, and his right shoulder drops slightly below his left one.