65.Michelangelo (Cont.)

Michelangelo returned to Florence in 1501 and began another masterpiece, the sculpture of David. In four years he turned a piece of marble into one of the most dynamic, captivating, and memorable sculptures ever created. This fourteen-foot statue shows a strong, determined David with his slingshot getting ready for his momentous battle with the giant Goliath. The fierce look on David's face was called terribilità, or "awesome power," and would forever be associated with Michelangelo and his work.

The way he breathed life into slabs of marble was simply divine. Michelangelo himself was often dumbfounded by his own powers. While chiseling Moses for Pope Julius II, it is rumored that he screamed, "PerchÈ non parli?" ("Why don't you talk?"), and threw the chisel at his creation, leaving a chip on Moses' knee that visitors to the church of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome, where the statue resides, can still see today.

Perhaps the greatest culmination of his art is the magnificent ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. Although he considered himself primarily a sculptor, this painted fresco is an unprecedented achievement. Working alone and lying on his back, he created a series of panels encapsulating the span of Biblical history from the creation of Mman to the life of Noah. These paintings, rich in detail, provide a visual account of the Judeo-Christian view of world history that no one has equaled before or since. The image of God, reaching forth to give Adam, his creation, the touch of life is the very essence of terribilità.

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