Upon walking into the Academia museum, I had one job. I must see the David. Since I had done prior research on the massive statue, my excitement was limitless because of the manner in which people described David were similar to how people depicted the Mona Lisa. However, when I saw David I cannot help but say that I was let down and in a confused state. I could not help but make small critiques of the statue. Personally, I do not believe that this is “the perfect male” as many people have described him. One of the reasons is due to the size of his hands, although I do understand the story and that he used his hands to defeat Goliath, why did his hands have to be so large? Disproportionate to the rest of the body, his hands would make a good fit for a statue that is gigantic compared to David. Although the statue is very good, I found it troublesome that it was claimed to be the “best” when it had hands that would fit a Goliath more so than David.
The other works that intrigued me were Michelangelo’s Prisoners or Slaves, being able to admire the unfinished works of one of the greatest sculptors of all time was extremely educational. Being able to see how the figures would be created from the block of marble made me truly appreciate the art of sculpting as a profession. Unlike art, sculpting takes time and extreme precision, an error within sculpting mean starting from scratch completely. The only difference is, unlike undertaking a new painting, sculpting requires hard physical labor and pristine knowledge of the unbreakable material will chip. Since the works were all unfinished, I began to interpret my own personal meaning of them. I believe that these sculptures were left unfinished because the untouched block behind made the figures appear to be glued to their background and unable to break free. This trapped sensation does a very solid job of portraying the lives that slaves lived during the time period, attempting to break free of the confined lifestyle the slaves endured.
My trip to Academia was extremely humbling, it educated me that no work of art is perfect, however, in many cases that is the beauty of art itself. It forces a viewer to grasp the difficulty behind the profession, and comprehend that although “perfection” may never be achieved, the work itself is impressive. The manner in which the statues are not perfect displays that the pronounced artists that created them are in fact human, and cannot achieve perfection because it does not exist. I believe that the errors within the artwork reveal the meaning behind life itself in many cases, nobody can be perfect. Although that is cliche, I have always believed that art is created in many cases to represent the world around those who sculpted these masterpieces and the works within the Academia do a good job of portraying this.
Alex's Travel Blog 