Years ago, the Art teacher at the coastal high school where I was also a teacher for thirty years asked the Biology teacher to pick up a special-order book for her while she was shopping at Powell’s Book Store in Portland. (I was not that Art teacher—I taught Art in Washington State—this was Sandy, the reason I went on to teach English.) Diane drove 80 miles over the coast range to Powell’s and was horrified to discover that there was a nude on the cover of the book. Yes, a naked man! Michelangelo’s David. She was embarrassed to be seen with the book. No, I am not kidding.
A massive block of Carrara marble was cut and transported to Florence in 1464. The famous work was begun in 1501 and completed by Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni at the age of 29 in 1504. Intended to be placed high as one of a series of prophet images, the seventeen foot tall sculpture was too heavy to move to that location and was instead sited in a square where the biblical hero was visible to all and recognized as a symbol of civil liberties. In more recent times, the marble showed damage from exposure and was moved indoors, and a replica placed in the square. Another replica of the six ton sculpture has since been placed in the originally intended location in Florence Cathedral.
&PRIDE Press 