A gigantic statue as a political manifesto. The year is 1501.
Michelangelo, aged 26, is in Rome to sculpt the St. Peter’s Pietà. He is asked to make a large statue of David in Florence.
Michelangelo returns to his native city, works in great secrecy, and after three years delivers his marble giant, over fi ve meters in height.
There is great rejoicing in Piazza della Signoria on 8 September 1504, when the statue is erected in front of the Palazzo Vecchio.