David

It took Michelangelo four years to sculpt one of his best known masterpieces, the statue of David. The statue was originally intended to sit atop the Florence Cathedral along with statues of other biblical figures, but it was instead placed in the Palazzo Vecchio, the government plaza, upon its completion in 1504. The statue was replace with a replica in the late 19th century. There is a second replica in the Piazzale Michelangelo, a park on a south hillside that overlooks the city. Today the original can be seen in the Galleria dell'Accademia di Firenze, where the 17 ft tall marble statue dominates the central hall.