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your name is
Agostino di Duccio
the year is
1464
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You have been
chosen by the
Wool Guild
for an
Important Mission
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Here’s The Plan
:
You will travel up into
the mountains at Carrara,
to the best marble quarry
.
There, you will select
a massive block
of purest white
.
You
will bring it
down the mountain,
and carry it into the city,
where you will carve the
largest sculpture ever
commissioned by
the church
.
If
you are
successful, your
magnificent statue will
stand high on the edge
of a great cathedral;
The Duomo
at
Florence,
Italy
You will be a
hero of church
and country
!!!
Your name
forever known
!!!
Rising to
the challenge, you
collect your tools and
mount an expedition
to score the biggest
and most beautiful
block of marble
ever seen.
(while trying to ignore the doubts
ringing in your ears, reminding
you that nothing on this scale
has been attempted in
your lifetime)
Are You In
Over Your
Head
?
Nevertheless,
you and your party
venture up into the
hills toward Carrara
with enthusiasm
.
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The best marble
for statues is found
near the the top of
the mountain
.
For
a project
of this scale,
you must find
the best of
the best
.
Smaller sizes
of flawless
white
stone
are easy,
but larger blocks,
consistently pure, have
become increasingly
difficult to find
.
The
quality you
need, in the size
you have in mind,
will be nearly
impossible
.
In fact,
the mountain
hasn’t revealed
such a perfect
piece
.
Resisting
the discouragement,
you select a mighty stone;
the best that Carrara
has to offer
.
It has some small
holes in a few spots, and
tiny veins that discolor
some areas, but you
can work with it
.
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Knowing how
difficult it will be
to transport such a
large block down
the mountain
and
then to
its destination
over 80 miles away,
you begin chopping
off the excess
.
You carve away
the rough spots and
the imperfections,
trimming it
down to
what is
essential
for the form
you have in mind
.
After
hacking away
everything that is
not essential, you still
have a chunk of marble
that is over eighteen feet
long, weighing about
25,000 pounds
.
No one
can remember
ever moving such
a massive stone
!!!
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Lowering
the beast down
the mountain is
challenging
.
Teams of men
and oxen work
for over
Two
Long
Months
straining
and pulling,
easing it down
to the quarry floor,
whole and intact
.
Then
begins the
journey to
Florence
…
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Two
Brutal
Years
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Exhaustion
is replaced by
Jubilation as your
conquest is slowly
pulled into the city
.
People come from
all around, just
to stare
.
A
huge
white block
of Carrara marble
dominating the courtyard
behind the cathedral.
You have done it!
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but…
something
seems amiss
…
Why
are the
City Leaders
frowning and
murmering
???
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Rumors are flying
…
“The Stone is Flawed”
The experts are dismayed,
declaring that you have
Carved Away
Too Much
!!!
Yes,
it has
a few holes
.
Yes,
you made
the narrow piece
even narrower when
“roughing it out”
.
Yes,
it has its
imperfections
,
but
you are
still confident
!
You can see it
in your mind
…
(but)
The
leaders
have lost
confidence.
The city
has lost its
investment.
You are removed
from your position
!!!
The citizens
begin calling it
“The Giant”
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People
still wander by
to gawk and leer
,
scaring birds
away from their
pooping perches
on
The Giant
.
Eleven years later,
a boy is born who will
grow up to challenge
Agostino’s Giant
.
Maybe
it’s better
that your name
fades into obscurity
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The
white giant,
abandoned in a
church courtyard
.
There it sits for
over thirty
years
.
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People say that the
stone is now “cooked”
by the sun & weather
.
brittle
.
useless
.
.
.
-=< O >=-
35
years
later
(in 1501)
the city starts
discussing in earnest
What To Do About
The Giant.
Q:
“Shall we ask
Leonardo da Vinci
to make something from it?”
A:
“No, he is
getting older and
has no passion for it.”
Q:
“What about the new guy?
A:
“Why not?
He did okay in Rome…”
-=< O >=-
The
whole town
comes out to see the
excitement, surrounding
the courtyard, watching
the workers stand the
block on end
…
A shed
is constructed
around the stone
.
The young sculptor
can now work
in private
.
There he toils for
months and
months
…
Finally,
on a summer
day in 1503,
the shed
is torn
away
.
“And truly it
Giorgio Vasari
was a miracle
on the part of
Michelangelo
to restore to
life a thing
that was
dead.”
THIS
is the reward
for the city’s
investment
-=< O >=-
Michelangelo’s
sublime masterpiece:
his sculpture of
David
:
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The genius
Michelangelo
has redeemed
the stone
!!!
David
has slain
Agostino’s
Giant
!!!
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David
Who?
The story of
David is told in
The Old Testament
book of 1 Samuel
In chapter 17,
a giant Philistine
soldier named
Goliath
challenges
the Israelites to
a one-on-one battle
.
King Saul
and all his soldiers
are terrified, but a
young shepherd
boy named
David
slays the giant
by
slinging
a stone into
his forehead
.
The
death of Goliath
was the turning
point of the
battle
.
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This story
has traditionally
been interpreted as,
“God can use the smallest
and the weakest of us”, but
Michelangelo has given
his David a classically
perfect physique
.
The
Conquering
Hero
!!!
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This
story
started at a
marble quarry
.
Agostino was working
without power tools,
but this is what the
quarry at Carrera
looks like today
:
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CREDIT:
I
was
inspired
to write this
long skinny story
after reading an article
in the New York Times
Magazine by Sam
Anderson
“David’s Ankles:
How Imperfections
Could Bring Down
the World’s Most
Perfect Statue”
There’s an
audio version, too.
Here’s a link to it:
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