Day 78-79: FLORENCE

HE is a chiseled god in his own temple that is shaped like a Latin cross and built just for him.

And from his high position at the back of the room, he commands attention from the moment anyone enters.

Casually standing in all his glory with sling draped over his left shoulder and its handle in his right hand, he is relaxed but focused about the enormous task ahead against Goliath.

This is no Jewish shepherd boy from the Bible teachings. This is an idealised fit and toned muscle man, standing at 5.17m - a man who was to be looked up to on top of Florence Cathedral.

Michelangelo Buonarroti's sculpture of David, created between 1501 and 1504, was recognised as a masterpiece after its unveiling and as such, was given the greatest honour of being placed instead outside the Florence Town Hall where the world could view it up close.

All of these facts we learn from local guide Andrea who is taking our Globus Italian Mosaic members through the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence, where the famous statue is the star attraction in the Tribuna del David (Florence also has two copies of the statue which we see on our walking tour and drive to a lookout over the city. Photos inside the Accademia are forbidden).

Andrea is passionate about Florence but especially the priceless David.

He tells us that when Michelangelo worked on each piece, he believed he was releasing the sculpture that God had placed inside the marble.

As a result, he worked from the front to the back, allowing the figure to "emerge" from the single piece of marble - a very difficult process.

David was created freehand with the help of Michelangelo's own sketches but no plaster model.

The eyebrows are so perfect. The toenails so realistic. The veins pop out of the "skin" on his feet, arms and hands. The neck matches the turn of the head.

Andrea informs us that Michelangelo would secretly view and even dissect cadavers in order to ensure his works were anatomically correct.

Maybe that is why I have tears in my eyes.

The more I look at David - taking Andrea's advice to move from one angle to the next and even view it from behind (with that exquisite behind!), I cannot believe how even the great Michelangelo, aged only 26-29, could have painstakingly created such a life-like creature so early in his career.

He truly was a unique man who created truly a unique sculpture.

Sure, David has had to overcome gigantic problems including 400 years of weathering outside the Town Hall, a "broken arm" following a protest in which he was hit when a bench was thrown out a window, the move taking seven days from the centre of the city to his final home, plus a hammer attack on a toe by a crazed art lover.

But that just makes him seem even more warrior-like to me.

Lesson of the day: Copies never really come close to the real thing if the real thing is by Michelangelo. And even someone who failed art in Grade 8 can appreciate that.