On September 8, 1504, Michelangelo unveiled his statue of David. Oiginally it was a giant block of marble twenty feet high. Agostino di Duccio had accepted a commission to sculpt a biblical figure thirty years before from this block of marble, but gave up on it. The commisison passed to Antonio Rossellino, but he gave up as well.
For nearly 30 years the block of marble sat in a courtyard. The church decided that the statue should be named "David." The elders settled on Michelangelo di Lodovico as the sculptor. and commissioned him to finish the statue, which he did in less that three years.
Unfortunately, the marble had weakened from sitting so long in the weather. Michaelangelo's first attempt was not readily accepted in the highest of circles. David, it seems, had been bored and had gone off his usual Mediterranean diet. He gained far too much weight. Michelangelo, always undaunted, quickly chiseled some of the marble away, leaving us with the lean David that we know and love today.
Michelangelo was clearly a realist who realised people want fantasy. Truth is dull. We would rather hear (and see) a well told lie. Clearly, the secret is to break the routine (not the marble):
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I marvel at the way Chloe's mind works. She can link a rabbit with a hippo.
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