Art-Michelangelo-David TB02

Please drop this item in rural or Premium Member Only caches.  Do not drop it in an urban cache or leave it behind at a caching event.  Transport the bug in the original plastic bag for as long as the bag lasts; this prevents the chain and tag tangling with other items.  Otherwise, take this travel bug anywhere you wish.  No permission needed to leave the U.S.

This is one of a series of travel bugs made to recognize art seen and admired by the bug owner. A digital copy of this work was downloaded from the internet. The copy was reduced in size and proportions cropped to accommodate the laminating materials available to the owner. Regrettably these processes diminish the effort of the artist. One truly must see the original in person to fully appreciate the work. The text below is a mixture of my own observations and material gleaned from the internet (mostly Wikipedia and Web Gallery).

Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) was an Italian painter, sculptor and architect. He is perhaps most famous for his sculpture of David, now in the Accademia, in Florence, and for the fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. Michelangelo was greatly affected by another artist of the day, Leonardo da Vinci. The two artists battled for different commissions in Florence, but in the end, most of Michelangelo's commissions came from the Catholic Church. A conspicuous exception is the David.

Michelangelo wasn’t from an impoverished youth. His father was a banker in Florence and made enough to support his family, their upper middle-class livelihoods, and his children’s education. The young Michelangelo first started his studies under Domencio Ghirlandajo. After only six months of study, Domencio stated that Michelangelo had surpassed him in his own art. After only one year, Michelangelo began his tutelage under the supervision of the magnificent Lorenzo de’ Medici, who funded Michelangelo’s pursuits. To escape political unrest, he moved to Bologna, where he found work finishing the shrine of St. Dominic.

In 1501, and back in Florence, he was commissioned to create the David by the Arte della Lana (Guild of Wool Merchants), who were responsible for the upkeep and the decoration of the Cathedral in Florence. For this purpose, he was given a block of marble which Agostino di Duccio had already attempted to fashion forty years previously, perhaps with the same subject in mind. Whereas most comtemporary portrayals of David showed the youth in the act or after slaying Goliath, this David is shown prior to the event.