The statue was paid for by the wool-workers of Florence. To the people of the Republic of Florence, David, the teenage boy who fought a giant, was a symbol of how a small fierce town could battle off powerful invaders. David was a particularly important symbol to the wool-workers as well, because as a boy, he took care of his father’s sheep, and as a king, he was like a shepherd to his people.
The statue of David is a symbol of the City of Florence, Italy, and is Michelangelo's most famous work of sculpture. It is often called "The David".
From about 1464 the members of the Wool Guild wanted to have twelve statues of people from the Old Testament of the Bible carved for the Florence Cathedral. These statues were to go on the buttresses all around the outside walls, high up near the roof. Two statues had already been made by Donatello and his assistant, Agostino di Duccio. Duccio was asked to carve a statue of David. He began carving the statue's feet, chest and a hole between the legs. He stopped making the statue when his master, Donatello, died in 1466. Antonio Rossellino then worked on the statue for two years. The block of stone was untouched for 33 years and was left in the cathedral workshop where it was getting damaged by the weather. Michelangelo began working on David on September 13, 1501. It was finished on September 8, 1504.
When it was finished, the statue was placed in front of the entrance to the Palazzo Vecchio. During 1873 it was moved to the Accademia Gallery in Florence to protect it from damage. The statue currently attracts many visitors to the Accademia Gallery.
In 1991, the statue of David was attacked by a person with a hammer. Before the person with the hammer could be stopped, damage was done to the toes of the left foot.
The following are other statues by Michelangelo:
Moses (Michelangelo)
Moses is a statue that was made by Michelangelo. It is a statue of Moses from the Bible. The statue is unusual because Moses has horns on his head. This was one of Michelangelo's last projects.
The following are other statues by Michelangelo:
The Birth of Venus (Botticelli)
The Birth of Venus is a painting by Sandro Botticelli (1445 – May 17, 1510). It is of a Roman goddess who was called Venus. He pictured her standing on a shell because Venus was said to have been born from foam on the sea in "Stanze per la giostra", a poem written by Angelo Poliziano. The painting shows Zephyr, god of the winds holding the gentle breeze Aura, blowing her toward the shore where Horae, goddess of the seasons, is awaiting her with a cloak. She is pictured naked to show her innocence and divinity.
Primavera (Botticelli)
The Primavera is a painting by Sandro Botticelli, which was painted in about 1482.
The painting is set in the garden of Venus, who is in the middle of the painting. Above her head is Cupid, who is aiming a bow and arrow at "The Three Graces". The Three Graces are dancing a rondel. Mercury is on the left of the painting. He is wearing a helmet and is carrying a sword. This means that he is the guard of Venus's garden. On the right of the picture is Zephyr. Zephyr is the god of the wind. He is chasing a nymph called Cloris. Next to Cloris is Flora, the goddess of Spring, scattering flowers. She was originally Cloris but was turned into Flora by Zephyr.
The Primavera is in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
Cupid
Cupid, also called Amor (Latin for "love"), is the god of sexual desire in Roman mythology. He fired golden arrows at people to make them fall in love, and lead arrows to make people fall out of love. He was mainly drawn as a cherub, but he might have looked like a normal teenager. He had large feathery wings which he used to fly around in the sky and mainly shot people with his love arrows by flying above them. He secretly did this. And many people asked him for help.
Eros (disambiguation)
Eros is the Greek god of love.
Eros can also mean:
The Creation of Adam
The Creation of Adam is part of a painting by Michelangelo on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican City. It is of Adam and God touching hands so that God can give the spark of life to Adam.
Newbury, Berkshire
Newbury is a small historical market town in Berkshire, England, with many buildings from the 16th century, the world famous Newbury racecourse, and the Lambourn horse training stables.
Newbury is home to many kinds of people from different cultures. It is easy to get there from the M4 motorway and has airport and train links.
Dvorak Simplified Keyboard
The Dvorak Simplified Keyboard ( ) is an alternative way of putting letters on an English keyboard. Most English keyboards have the keys lined up in a "QWERTY layout." The point of QWERTY was to prevent typewriter keys from sticking, but it is not the most "ergonomic", or comfortable, keyboard to type on. August Dvorak invented the Dvorak keyboard, where letters are arranged based on how often they are used. For instance, the most common letters (like "e") are in the center row of keys, so less hand movement is needed when a person is typing.
Proponents of the Dvorak keyboard feel that with the use of computers rather than typewriters, there is no reason to keep the QWERTY keyboard. Many Dvorak keyboard users think that more people should use the Dvorak keyboard, as it aims to prevent typing injuries (like Repetitive stress injury and carpal tunnel). But most users are used to the QWERTY keyboard, and do not want to switch.
Microsoft FrontPage
Microsoft FrontPage (Full name: Microsoft Office FrontPage) is a program made by Microsoft to help people make webpages and full websites. It was one of Microsoft Office programs until 2003.
Microsoft FrontPage was commercially available in four versions:
FrontPage 98, FrontPage 2000, FrontPage 2002 & FrontPage 2003.
A freeware version was also included in earlier releases of Internet Explorer. It was called FrontPage Express. It was a useful web editor without costing as much as professional software. FrontPage express is compatible with Windows XP and some other versions of Windows. FrontPage Express downloads are still available online from third-party hosts, such as stormthecastle.com.
FrontPage is a WYSIWYG, "What You See Is What You Get", Web Editor. All versions of FrontPage are still in use by web developers all over the globe.
The 2003 version is the last installment to the series. It was discontinued in 2006, being replaced by Microsoft Expression Web and Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer.
The first version of the app was made by Vermeer Technologies in 2005, before its acquisition by Microsoft.
Martial arts
A martial art is any form of fighting and an art that has a set way of practice. There are many martial arts that come from certain countries. They are practiced for many reasons: fighting, self-defense, sport, self-expression, discipline, confidence, fitness, relaxing, meditation. A martial art is a style of combat, in many instances directed towards the self-defence. In the common usage, the word applies to the systems of combat developed in all the world.
A person who does martial arts is called a "martial artist".
One common method is particularly in the Asian martial arts, it is the form or kata.
Martial arts may be used for self-defense, combat and fitness.
The idea of "martial art" appeared first time in English language in the 1920 "Takenobu's Japanese-English Dictionary" as a translation of the word "bu-gei" or "bu-jutsu" what means ""art" or "solution" of the military matters".
The martial arts are fighting systems. There are many schools and styles of martial arts, but all share the same goal: self-defence. Some of them, like taiji quan also can be used in order to improve health and the form as flowing of the "qi".
Some martial arts were not born in Asia. For example, savate appeared in France and the movements of sport of the capoeira came from Brazil.