The statue of Biblical hero David stands 17 feet tall.  It is a masterpiece of Renaissance artist Michelangelo.  He worked on it from 1501 to 1504.  It was commissioned as one of many statues of prophets to be placed along the roofline of the east end of Florence Cathedral, but instead was placed in a public square outside the Palazzo della Signoria on its completion.  To Florence, the statue stands as a symbol of their bold spirit and fight to preserve civil liberties.  The statue was positioned so the eyes of David glared towards Rome in defiance. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 Uported License.