Every year, a tide of pilgrims of beauty surges across continents. They roam the globe, drawn by the promise of Michelange’s masterpieces. They yield to the ritual: a swipe of plated plastic, a plane ticket destined to the old continent, and soon they are gliding down the spacious nave of the Accademia Gallery in Florence, with their hearts longing for a rendezvous with Michelangelo’s David - the idea of harmony carved out of marble that held for centuries the world in thrall.
They may think of themselves in the presence of perfection, the artist’s idea made flesh in marble. Yet, in reality, they are truly beholden to the result of a compromise: the whims of a picky commissioner and the relentless pursuit of endless polish. For Michelangelo, the statue’s soul might have emerged from stone long before, but the chiselling had to continue, and what really stands now is a monument to overzealous refinement.
We are schooled that his statuary is divided into tw…
