Who sculpted the marble statue David, completed in Florence in 1504?

Michelangelo sculpted the marble statue David, completed in Florence in 1504.

Michelangelo created David from a single block of Carrara marble between 1501 and 1504. The statue depicts the biblical hero before his battle with Goliath, emphasizing alert concentration rather than the moment of victory. Its contrapposto stance and carefully observed anatomy became celebrated examples of Renaissance sculpture.

The completed statue originally stood outside Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio, where it represented the city’s civic independence. It was moved indoors to the Galleria dell’Accademia in the nineteenth century, while a copy remains in the original outdoor location.

David is more than a religious image: Florentines interpreted the young hero as a symbol of a smaller republic defending itself against stronger enemies. The statue is sometimes confused with Donatello’s earlier bronze David, a different work with a different pose and material.