David

On this day in 1475 one of the greatest Renaissance artist, Michelangelo Buonarroti was born. And you know, through nearly five years of our existence we have never featured one of his most important works... so the time is now! :)

Michelangelo was only 26 years old in 1501, but he was already the most famous and best paid artist in his day. He accepted the challenge with enthusiasm to sculpt a large scale David and worked constantly for over two years to create one of his most breathtaking masterpieces of gleaming white marble.

David is pretty tall — he is 5.17 m (17.0 ft). The Biblical hero David was a favoured subject in the art of Florence. He symbolizes the defense of civil liberties embodied in the Republic of Florence which was a city-state threatened on all sides by more powerful rival states. Originally it was commissioned as one of a series of statues of prophets to be positioned along the roofline of the east end of the Florence Cathedral. The statue was placed instead in a public square outside the Palazzo della Signoria, the seat of civic government in Florence, where it was unveiled on September 8th,1504.

David is depicted before his battle with Goliath. Instead of being shown victorious over a foe much larger than he, David looks tense and ready for combat. It was a unique way to present David.Vasari described the sculpture as "certainly a miracle that of Michelangelo, to restore to life one who was dead," and then listed all of the largest and most grand of the ancient statues that he had ever seen, concluding that Michelangelo's work surpassed "all ancient and modern statues, whether Greek or Latin, that have ever existed."

Interesting thing: Michelangelo's piece can cause... an illness. Stendhal syndrome, also called a Florence syndrome, it is a psychosomatic disorder that causes rapid heartbeat, dizziness, fainting, confusion and even hallucinations when an individual is exposed to an experience of great personal significance, particularly viewing art. It was firstly described by the writer Stendhal who described his experience with the phenomenon. The staff at Florence's Santa Maria Nuova hospital are accustomed to dealing with tourists suffering from dizzy spells and disorientation after admiring the statue of David.

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