Michelangelo Block Of Marble
David was originally commissioned as one of a series of statues of prophets to be positioned along the roofline of the east end of florence cathedral.
Michelangelo block of marble. He is made out of solid marble. David is a masterpiece of renaissance sculpture created in marble between 1501 and 1504 by the italian artist michelangelo. Michelangelo treated the group as one dense and compact mass as before so that it has an imposing impact yet he underlined the many contrasts present of male and female vertical and horizontal clothed and naked. Michelangelo is famous for saying that he worked to liberate the forms imprisoned in the marble.
Michelangelo s david is massive at 17 feet tall and more than 12 000 pounds yet it is sculpted from a single block of white marble. David is a 5 17 metre 17 0 ft marble statue of the biblical figure david a favoured subject in the art of florence. He saw his job as simply removing what was extraneous. Michelangelo buonarroti quotes quotable quote the sculpture is already complete within the marble block before i start my work.
Michelangelo decided to go against the current and portray his david before the battle. It is already there i just have to chisel away the superfluous material. The figure although muscular is slimmer than the bodybuilder like physiques that are typical of michelangelo s other works. The figure feels like it is writhing and straining trying to imminently explode out of the marble block that holds it.
2 the block of marble that michelangelo used to carve david had been worked on more than 50 years earlier by donatello. How much does he weigh. The complex problem for the designer was to extract two figures from one marble block an unusual undertaking in all periods. At that time the marble was said to have had a flaw in it and the project was abandoned.
Michelangelo s marble every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it michelangelo ogni blocco di pietra ha una statua dentro di sé ed è compito dello scultore scoprirla michelangelo. This may be because the marble slab was narrow having been cut with the thinner statues of donatello and agostino s era in mind. 5 660 kg or 12 478 12 lbs. Marble has been quarried in carrara located on the northernmost tip of tuscany for nearly 2 000 years.
The latent power one feels is extraordinary. The greatest artist has no conception which a single block of white marble does not potentially contain within its mass but only a hand obedient to the mind can penetrate to this image.