How a ruined piece of marble became Michelangelo’s David.
A lesson from one of the most renowned artists of our time
In 1502, in Florence, an enormous block of marble stood in the works department of the church of Santa María del Fiore. It had once been a magnificent piece of raw stone, but an unskillful sculpture had mistakenly bored a hole where there should have been a figure’s legs, generally, mutilating it.
Florence’s Mayor, Piero Soderini, had contemplated trying to save the block by commissioning Leonardo Da Vinci to work on it, or some other master, but had given up since everyone agreed that the stone had been ruined. So, despite the money that had been wasted on it, it gathered dust in the dark halls of the church.
Here is where the great Michelangelo appears in attendance of solitude made by Florence’s Mayor who was desperately trying to save the still magnificent piece of marble in spite of the unexpected damage it had. He traveled from Rome and, at his arrival, examined the stone and came to the conclusion that he could in fact carve a fine figure from it by adapting the pose to the way the rock had been mutilated.
Michelangelo started to work on the stone, depicting a young David, sling in hand despite the doubts of everyone in Florence.
Weeks later, as Michelangelo was putting the final touches on the statue, Soderini entered the studio and started to study the huge work, after he told the piece was magnificent, he judged the nose of being too big .
Michelangelo realized that Soderini was standing in a place right under the giant figure and did not have the proper perspective. Without a word, he gestured for Soderini to follow him up the scaffolding. Reaching the nose, he picked up his chisel, as well as a bit of marble dust that lay on the planks.
With Soderini just a few feet below him on the scaffolding, Michelangelo started to tap lightly with the chisel, letting the little bits of dust he had gathered in his hand to fall little by little.
He actually did nothing to change the nose but gave every appearance of working on it. After a few minutes of this charade, he stood aside: “Look at it now”. “I like it better.” replied Soderini, “you’ve made it come alive.”
The lesson:
Sometimes, you set goals and projects for your life or your job that are incomprehensible for people around you, it is unavoidable, however, to feel disappointment when you finally achieve it and receives criticism and judgemental comments when people don’t understand your perspective.
Figure your goals as they were a magnificent masterpiece, and when everyone tries to criticize it, just set them in the right direction and allow them to see your perspective. Just as Michelangelo could have ruined his famous David by listening the Mayor’s opinion, you can ruin your projects when you listen someone who doesn’t understad what you’re looking for.
Remember that what everyone can see as a mistake, has a meaning, a reason, and a motive for you.
*Michelangelo’s story was taken from the book “42 Laws of Power”.
