Unveiled in the heart of Florence, Italy on this day in 1504, Michelangelo's David remains one of the world's most recognizable masterpieces—a triumph of the High Renaissance.

"He alone is an artist whose hands can execute perfectly what his mind has conceived," said Michelangelo. The young artist was just 26 when he began sculpting the figure from a flawed block of Carrara marble that others had rejected.

He wrote in Sonnet 15, "The marble not yet carved can hold the form of every thought the greatest artist has."

David was inspired by the Biblical story, depicting the hero before his battle with Goliath. Sling in hand, gaze steady, the sculpture celebrates artistic rebirth, heroic physical strength, and human potential.

"My soul can find no staircase to heaven unless it be through earth's loveliness," Michelangelo reflected.

In 1873, the sculpture was moved from the Palazzo Vecchio to the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence. A yearlong restoration was completed in 2004 to honor the statue's 500th birthday.