Michelangelo's David

Timeline

1. 1501Florence cathedral workshop · FlorenceThe Florentine wool guild and the cathedral workshop commissioned the twenty-six-year-old Michelangelo to carve David; he chose a giant block of Carrara marble that had been abandoned, and officially began work on August 16 of the same year.
2. 1504Florence cathedral workshop · FlorenceAfter about three years of carving, Michelangelo completed the 5.17-meter marble David, presenting the youthful David poised for action and embodying the Renaissance's ultimate pursuit of human anatomy and classical heroic aesthetics.
3. 1504Piazza della Signoria · FlorenceOn September 8, 1504, the statue was installed before the Palazzo Vecchio in the Piazza della Signoria as the symbolic guardian of the Florentine Republic, drawing the attention of the whole city and becoming a milestone of Renaissance sculpture.