Michelangelo
Michelangelo returned to Florence in 1499. The republic was changing after the fall of its leader, anti-Renaissance priest Girolamo Savonarola, who was executed in 1498, and the rise of the "gonfaloniere" Piero Soderini. Michelangelo was asked by the consuls of the Guild of Wool to complete an unfinished project begun 40 years earlier by Agostino di Duccio: a colossal statue of Carrara marble portraying David as a symbol of Florentine freedom to be placed on the gable of Florence Cathedral. Michelangelo responded by completing his most famous work, the statue of David, in 1504. The masterwork definitively established his prominence as a sculptor of extraordinary technical skill and strength of symbolic imagination. A team of consultants, including Botticelli and Leonardo da Vinci, was called together to decide upon its placement, ultimately the Piazza della Signoria, in front of the Palazzo Vecchio. It now stands in the Academia while a replica occupies its place in the square.
Serkan Özkaya
In 2005, Özkaya created "David (inspired by Michelangelo)", a double-sized golden replica of Michelangeloʼs "David" based on a 3D computer model by Marc Levoy of Stanford University. The sculpture was first intended to be part of the 9th International Istanbul Biennial. Unfortunately, the statue crashed and was destroyed while in the process of being installed at Şişli Square. Özkaya created two new versions of the replica at a studio in Eskişehir, one of which was to be placed in the local Sazova Science, Art and Culture Park. The other was acquired by 21c Museum Hotels in Louisville, Kentucky. On its way to Louisville, the piece made a stop in New York City. Although just a mere copy, the statue made quite a spectacle, as the artist intended, attracting the attention of tourists and residents as it was transported uncovered lying horizontally on a semi-trailer truck. The giant 30-foot statue is currently featured in front of the museum hotel on West Main Street in Louisville.