PHOTOS & SPANISH VERSION BELOW
The soul of David spreads throughout Florence as a ubiquitous and sheltering presence. All the cities have their symbol: the Statue of Liberty, the musicians of Bremen, the Berlin bear, the Eiffel Tower, the cock of Barcelos, the Christ of Corcovado, the Big Ben … The flower of the lily shares with the David the leadership of popularity in the city of the Renaissance.
David symbolized the defence of civil liberties embodied in the Republic of Florence, an independent city-state threatened on all sides by more powerful rival states and by the hegemony of the Medici family. The weak defeated the strong, Florence always wins. Although there are several sculptures devoted to this figure, the David by Michelangelo (made between 1501 and 1504) is a paradigm of Renaissance sculpture due to the significant application of the contrapposto.
Nowadays the David is re-interpreted and included in different manifestations of the contemporary culture of Florence: street art, sculptural copies, kitsch merchandising or handcrafted works in the form of cushions or magnets for the fridge. There are two replicas of 3 meters height in Piazza de la Signoria and Piazzale di Michelangelo. Nevertheless, the original, which measures 5.17 meter and weighs 5,572 kg, is exhibited at the Gallery of the Academy of Florence since 1873.
Florencia, en la ciudad del David
El alma del David se extiende por toda Florencia como un halo omnipresente y protector. Todas las ciudades tienen su símbolo: la Estatua de la Libertad, los músicos de Bremen, el oso de Berlín, la Torre Eiffel, el gallo de Barcelos, el Cristo de Corcobado, el Big Ben… La flor del lirio comparte ex aequo con el David el mayorazgo de popularidad en la ciudad del Renacimiento.
Paradigma de la escultura renacentista gracias a la aplicación inteligente del contrapposto en la obra realizada por Miguel Ángel entre 1501 y 1504, el David se reinventa para abarcar diferentes manifestaciones en la Florencia actual en el ámbito del street art, copias escultóricas, merchandising kitsch o trabajos artesanales en forma de cojines o imanes para la nevera. Aunque existes dos réplicas de 3 m de altura (la original mide 5,17 m y pesa 5572 kg) en la ciudad (piazza de la Signoria y piazzale di Michelangelo), la original se exhibe en la Galería de la Academia de Florencia desde 1873.
