The marble block had been roughed out and abandoned by others; Michelangelo, aged twenty-six, saw the giant inside it. The David (1501-1504), 5.17 metres of youth coiled in the instant before the throw, was made for Piazza della Signoria and since 1873 has lived in the purpose-built tribune of the Accademia, where millions each year perform the world's simplest act: looking up.
What to see
The David, of course — but the Gallery's revelation is the Prisoners: four unfinished colossi wrestling out of the marble, Michelangelo's idea of carving as "taking away" shown at mid-work. With them, the Saint Matthew and the Palestrina Pietà. Then Bartolini's plaster-cast gallery, a nineteenth-century forest of models, and the musical instruments museum with the Medici violins, a Stradivarius among them.
Visiting
Timed booking is strongly advised: the Gallery is compact and its unbooked queues are Florence's longest after the Uffizi. Ninety minutes suffice; Monday is closing day. The David's tribune invites a full circle — walk it entirely, the right profile is another statue.
Getting there
Via Ricasoli, between the Duomo and Piazza San Marco: five minutes on foot from Brunelleschi's dome. No transport truly needed; Florence here is all pedestrian.
Our editors' tip
Walk the nave of the Prisoners SLOWLY before reaching the David: the unfinished preparing the perfect is the route Michelangelo himself would have drawn for you. And view the David from behind, where almost no one lingers: the sling across his back tells the story the front conceals.