Florence

  • Michelangelo’s David

    ByDominik Szobak

    Most people assume Michelangelo’s David depicts a triumphant hero standing over a defeated giant – but the sculpture actually captures the moment before the battle, when David is tense, calculating, and weighing what he is about to do. Quick Facts Artist: Michelangelo Year: 1501–1504 Medium: Carrara marble Dimensions: 5.17 metres (approximately 17 feet) tall, weighing…

  • The Birth of Venus

    ByDominik Szobak

    Here is a fact that stops most people in their tracks: The Birth of Venus was painted on canvas — not wood panel — at a time when nearly every major Italian altarpiece and large-scale painting was produced on wood, making it one of the earliest surviving large-format canvas paintings in Western art history. Quick…