David

David stands in the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence. The gallery is a short walk north-east of the cathedral. It was built in the 19th century to house the statue and opened in 1873. The room that holds David is a large rectangular space lit by skylights. The sculpture itself is placed on a low pedestal near the centre of the room. A low barrier keeps visitors at a measured distance. The marble figure rises almost five and a half metres above the floor. The statue was carved between 1501 and 1504 by Michelangelo. It was first shown in the Piazza della Signoria before moving to the Accademia. A full-size replica now stands in the square. The biblical David became a symbol of Florentine liberty in the 15th century. The city’s wool guild organised the commission through its Opera del Duomo. The block of marble had been worked on earlier by Agostino di Duccio and then left unfinished for decades. Visitors find a single room with a polished marble floor. The walls are plain, allowing the sculpture to dominate. A second room nearby shows other unfinished works by Michelangelo. The gallery’s skylights bring natural light onto the marble. Outside, the streets of Florence lead back to the cathedral and the Arno. The replica in the square stands where the original once stood.