Encountering David

Since being in Italy I have come into contact with a HUGE assortment of art... namely, renaissance art. Not only am I in a class called 'The History of Renaissance Art', but I tell you, art is everywhere. From the thousands of galleries and museums to the fresco adorned churches and palaces, from the statues in every courtyard to the doorknockers and sewer grates. I swear, everything is ornate and the italians have run out of room for 'normal' art, so they take to exploiting the smallest and most obscure things.
Last weekend I went to Florence and spent almost the entire thing looking at art. Florence is one of the art capitols of the world, and they say there is an art gallery per resident... I'm sure that is an exageration, non the less, there are a ridiculous number of small hidden galleries... I only visited two and a couple churches. Friday I spent the whole day in the Uffizzi gallery looking at the paintings we've been studying in class... only when I got all the way through did I look at the time and realize I had been in there for over 4 hours.
Saturday was the duomo, and climbing it, and other fun churches. It was also my visit to Academia museum... home to Michelangelo's statue of David. Now, for some reason, last time I was in Florence (in high school) I did not go see David. I guess I figured that there were hundreds of replicas of him not counting all of the touristy memorabilia... He's everywhere, everybody knows what he looks like and in what position he is standing. I didn't think seeing him would be that big of a deal.. boy was I wrong. Nothing had prepared me for David.
For one, he's huge, much bigger than one expects, but there is a grandure about him that you just don't get with the replicas. Everything realized about him, is completely and breathtakingly accurate! I don't know how he does it... but Michelangelo somehow transformed marble into perfect skin and hair textures. The furrow in his brow and the fear in his face make one contemplate what David is thinking... is he looking ahead to his big battle with Goliath? Who knows. His sligshot taught against his back, David's arms and hands are flexed showing off his perfect veins and tendens, drawing attention to the wrinkles in his knuckles.
My favorite spot on David, the one I stared at forever and still can't quite get over, is his bellybutton. I don't really understand how, but the skin is pulled tighter to the pucker of the belybutton. There is a small dimple right next to it with amazing charm. How can a marble bellybutton be so accurate and so perfect?!