Galleria dell' Accademia, Florence

First up for our first day in Florence was our booked visit to Galleria dell’ Accademia to see Michelangelo’s famous statue of David. We missed seeing this last time on our way to Pisa as I was unaware we had to pre-book our time slot and we missed out. This time I booked well in advance.

I think due to it being towards the end of the tourist season, there wasn’t a massive crowd and we were able to see David up close and personal. Everyone has heard about the Statue of David and to see it up close was amazing. It is so hard to fathom how it was sculptured from one piece of marble. At 5.17 metres high, it is an imposing figure that took Michelangelo over two years to sculpt.

The history of the statue is very interesting as I was unaware the statue had been originally started by another Italian sculptor in 1463. The Statue of David was to be part of a commission for a series of twelve large Old Testament sculptures for the buttresses of the Cathedral. In 1410 Donatello made the first statue, a figure of Joshua in terracotta and Agostino made a figure of Hercules, also in terracotta in 1463. He then began the statue of David in 1464 and was provided with a block of Carrara marble. He only got as far as beginning to shape the legs, feet and torso and roughing out some drapery. For unknown reasons his association with the project ceased in 1466. Ten years later Antonio Rossellino was commissioned to take up where Agostino had left off, but his contract was terminated soon after.

The block of marble remained neglected for 26 years in the yard of the cathedral workshop, exposed to the elements. In 1501, concerned about the cost the block of marble represented, the Opera ordered the block of stone, which they called The Giant, to be raised on its feet so that a master experienced in this kind of work might examine it and express an opinion and interest to complete it. Even though Leonardo da Vinic and others were consulted, Michelangelo, at 26 years of age, convinced the Operai that he deserved the commission. On 16 August 1501 he was given the official contract and he began carving on 13 September. This amazing statue was finally completed in 1504.

David was originally commissioned as one of a series of statues of prophets to be positioned along the roofline of the east end of the Florence Cathedral, however due to the sheer size and weight of the statue, it was instead placed in a public square outside the Palazzo Vecchio, the seat of the civic government in Florence. The statue was moved to the Galleria dell’ Accademia in 1873 and the later replaced at the original location by a replica.

The Galleria dell’ Accademia, while best known as the home of the Statue of David, also has other sculptures by Michelangelo and a large collection of paintings by Florentine artists, mostly from the period of the 1300s to the 1600s. It is so hard to fathom that we were admiring works of art that have survived the centuries in such good condition and it still surprised me how graphic some of the pieces are. Art is truly subjective.

It was a highlight finally seeing the Statue of David. A big tick off the bucket list.Read more