I Saw The David In Person...

… at the Accademia Galleria of Florence, Italy, but I was more intrigued by Michelangelo’s ‘Slave’ sculptures in front of it. These were Michaelangelo’s ‘unfinished’ works.

He was years ahead of his time. In fact, at the time people didn’t like them. People didn’t like the fact that these sculptures appeared unfinished and less clearly defined. Only portions of the figures showed through the carved rock. As a result, the sculptures were locked up and hidden for centuries. It wasn’t until the avant gard movement came along in the early 1900’s, that these sculptures were rediscovered and displayed with pride.

I like these sculptures in particular because I see struggle. I see a man trying desperately to escape a box he’s put in. I see myself. I see people I know. We all want to be this finished product, perfect and held up for display and adoration. But we don’t get that. We’re at best always a work in progress. At best, our good side is showing and our flaws are hidden.

On another note, the David is amazing as well for some of these same reasons. The stone used to create the David was not perfect, and in fact very challenging. The marble rock block was so fragile that 2 other artists had already tried to use and failed. Nonetheless, he worked for 2 years on it. It could’ve broke at any moment. When you view the David, you can see that the stone is not perfect, but rather has stray marks all throughout.

I love seeing masterpieces up close because you can see the imperfections for yourself.