Michelangelo’s David Has Weak Ankles

Michelangelo’s David’s has survived world wars; in the end, the greatest danger to the statue might just be its design. It isn’t just the ankles that are weak, either. The tree stump near the back of the statue (which also supports the weight of the 5.5 ton sculpture) has similar fractures. Marble, while a favorite of sculptors, is notoriously difficult to preserve, especially outside, in heavily polluted areas. Even people in Michelangelo’s time encountered this problem. The Laocoon group is an ancient marble sculpture dating back to the early first century C.E. It was excavated in Rome in 1506, a few years after the David was unveiled. It went through numerous restorations over the centuries, and experts are still arguing over the proper alignment of the work. via