NEWS: Michelangelo's David is Almost Anatomically Perfect

Carried by professors Massimo Gulisano and colleague Pietro Bernabei of Florence University during last year's cleaning, the study is the first full anatomical investigation on Michelangelo's masterpiece and debunks long-held assumptions that the 4.34-meter (14-foot)-high statue was out of proportion.

"David is not really highly gifted, but he is totally normal. His penis measures 15 cm which, considering the height of the statue, corresponds to 6-7 cm in an adult," Gulisano told Discovery News.

"Here we have a naked man who is about to fight. He has an orthosympathic activation consistent with the combined effects of fear, tension and aggression. A contraction of the genitals is totally normal in such conditions," he said. [...]

"Tension is written all over his face. We can see the muscle contraction on the forehead and over the nose. His nostrils are flared, his eyes are wide open, and the upper lip slightly raised. All this shows concentration and aggressiveness," Bernabei said.

The same tension can be found all over the body. The right leg is tensed, while the left one juts forward. According to the doctors, in the right hand David is not holding a stone, as it was widely assumed, but the handle of the sling.

"The muscles in his right arm point to someone about to make a rotary movement. It is certainly not someone about to throw a stone," Gulisano said.

Michelangelo's physiological accuracy can be found in every part of the sculpture, from the tendons to the veins and the contractions of the neck muscles.

"You can even see the contraction of the geniohyoid muscles. This tells us that Michelangelo carried intense anatomy studies and dissected many cadavers," Gulisano said.

Jimbo said:
How many wieners did ol'Mike look at to notice that this happens

Jimbo said:
How many wieners did ol'Mike look at to notice that this happens

BossDJ said:
It is one of the most beautiful things I have seen. It literally took my breath away.

gmacoustic said:

I concur. However, there were four unfinished statues on display at the Academia in the room just before you got to David that I liked even more. Because of their unfinished nature, they seemed to be fighting or struggling to get out of the stone that much of them was still trapped in. Really cool!

theseeman said:
I saw the Pieta. some asshole went crazy and attacked it with a hammer or shot it. I can't remember which. I didn't get a chance to see the real david just the one in the square. but I did see an old football/soccer procession. eletronic anti bird poop counter measures are cool

gmacoustic said:

I concur. However, there were four unfinished statues on display at the Academia in the room just before you got to David that I liked even more. Because of their unfinished nature, they seemed to be fighting or struggling to get out of the stone that much of them was still trapped in. Really cool!

BossDJ said:
I remember those as well. Have you seen the his Pieta? I don't know the correct spelling. Anyway, Mary holding Jesus in the Vatican?

TedKoppel said:

The pictures of that alone are fucking amazing. I'd love to see it in real life.