David is defined above all by his determination and drive. Of the countless artists who have rendered him over the millennia, Michelangelo most successfully captures this quality. In earlier representations, the revered King of Judah had appeared as a virtuous musician or as an innocent boy bearing the head of Goliath. Yet from Michelangelo’s block of marble he emerged as a valiant warrior, poised for battle. He stands with unshakeable confidence. One leg bears the weight of his muscled body, while the other rests relaxed. One of his disproportionately large hands conceals stones, and the other lifts a sling that drapes insouciantly over his naked back. Yet the most dramatic feature is his eyes: his sideward gaze creates a countenance that urges caution to adversaries.

By means of the colossal, classical sculpture, Michelangelo and his patrons in Florence asserted their newfound confidence vis-à-vis their competitors and identified themselves as the heirs of the Greco-Roman legacy. The biblical David represented for the Florentines republican liberty and a willingness to defend their native sovereignty against the Medici family and Rome. For this reason, they placed the sculpture before the town hall, so that David’s eyes could be fixed on Rome.