Oprea del Dumo di Firenze commisioned the statue of David in 1501 after Michelangelo had come back from Rome. It took Michelangelo two and one half to three years to complete the statue. The David was originally placed in front of Palazzo Vecchio, but in 1873, to protect it from the elements, a copy of the David was put outside of the Palazzo Vecchio to replace the real one which was put into the Accademia Gallery.
             The Biblical account states that David was the youngest of the eight sons of Jesse. He was a shepherd who had saved his father's sheep from a lion and a bear by only using a sling and stone. These were common weapons in those days. If you practiced long and hard enough, you could shoot one rock up to one hundred miles per hour and you could hit anything you wanted to, like a tree, a bird, or any animal you wanted. When David was about fifteen years old, he was sent by his father, Jesse, to go to the army with food and bring back tidings of the battle. While he was there, the Philistine champion, Goliath, [who was a giant from the town of Gath which was in Philistine territory] came out and challenged the Israelites to send their greatest warrior to fight him, and whoever lost would become the victor's slave, meaning that if Goliath won, the Israelites would become the Philistines' slaves or vice versa. No one would challenge Goliath except for a young shepherd boy named David. David fought Goliath with only a sling and a stone. He later became one of the greatest kings of Israel of all time. Imagine what a difference is from shepherd boy to king!
             rgggvMichelangelo was twenty-six years old when he was commissioned to sculpt the David. The David is 5.4 meters [18 feet, 540 cm., 161.5 inches] high. Before coming back to Florence, he was commissioned to do fifteen statues of saints for a chapel in Seana's cathedral in Rome. Just as he was figuring out what he would do, he was called to Florence. Twelve da...