David is a bronze statue of the biblical hero by the Italian Early Renaissance sculptor Donatello, probably made in the 1440s.

It depicts David with an enigmatic smile, posed with his foot on Goliath's severed head just after defeating the giant.

The statue's physique, contrasted with the large sword in hand, shows that David has overcome Goliath not by physical prowess, but through God.

The Medici family were exiled from Florence in 1494, and the statue was moved to the courtyard of the Palazzo della Signoria along with Donatello's bronze Judith,[4] which had an equal topic and potent symbolic meaning.

The David lost its place (and its column) in the middle of the courtyard to a fountain in the 1450s and was installed in a niche flanking the doorway near the stairs, where the Judith stood since the early 1500s.

[5] In the 17th century the David was moved to the Palazzo Pitti, then to the Uffizi in 1777, and then finally, in 1865, to the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, where it remains today.

However, the fact that the statue was placed in the main government building of the Republic of Florence in the 1490s indicates that it was not viewed as controversial.

In the early 16th century, the Herald of the Signoria mentioned the sculpture in a way that suggested there was something unsettling about it: "The David in the courtyard is not a perfect figure because its right leg is tasteless.

Goliath's beard curls around David's sandaled foot, as if the young hero is running his toes through his dead opponent's hair.

[17] The traditional identification of the figure was questioned in 1939 by Jenő Lányi [de], with an interpretation leaning toward ancient mythology, the hero's helmet especially suggesting Hermes or Mercury.

[18] If the figure were indeed meant to represent Mercury, it may be supposed that he stands atop the head of the vanquished giant Argus Panoptes.

This was the first time the statue had ever been restored, but concerns about layers of "mineralised waxings" on the surface of the bronze led to the 18-month intervention.