FLORENCE: GALLERIA DELL'ACCADEMIA & DAVID

The Galleria dell'Accademia hosts Michelangelo's David, one of the great works of art of the western world.  I had high hopes for viewing and photographing this masterpiece, and I was not disappointed.  It was one of the highlights of the trip.

The museum does hold other art.  I captured this ceiling along the way, something I have a penchant for.

I also took the following shot of an oil painting poignantly depicting the body of Christ being lowered from the cross.

As is often the case, unfortunately, I failed to record either the artist or the name of the painting.

And here is a bust of Michelangelo done in middle age that I rendered in black & white.

Perhaps not classically handsome but powerful.

David is situated in a vestibule at the end of a corridor.  The presentation and lighting of the statue are superb, adding to the work's impact.  Here is a view of the work down the corridor.

Our guide first directed us to the figure's left, the direction in which David is looking.

Following are a couple of shots that I took from the figure's front and right side that I rendered as black & whites.  I thought the black & whites helped to emphasize the lines that the artist created.

For the record, I took these shots with the aperture at a wide-open f/4 to maximize speed and to reduce depth of field to help create separation between the figure and the background.  ISOs were in the range of 640 to 1000, excellent for museum lighting.

I did get a closeup of the figure's head and left hand looking up from below.

And another closeup of his right hand.  Note the rendering of the veins in the figure's hand and forearm.

Michelangelo began work on David in 1501 and completed the sculpture in 1504, when he was 29 years old.

On our way out of the Accademia, I spied the following sculpture located in an exterior courtyard.

Of course, it's another David!

John