When I was leaving Venice to travel to the historical city of Florence, I knew that soon I would be seeing one of the most  famous artworks in the history of art. There are actually many statues of David  in Florence, but the sculpture that I was thinking of was Michelangelo’s version. After teaching art history for 25 years, I have grown weary of seeing this statue around every corner. I have read 25 years of essays on the 15 foot naked man, that used to be standing in the largest square in that renaissance city.

Michelangelo [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], from Wikimedia Commons

• CC BY 3.0
• File:‘David’ by Michelangelo JBU0001.JPG
• Created: 8 July 2008

                      Now in a museum, this particular marble man still inspires awe. It may be the most beautiful object made by human hands. And in this giant’s face, one sees the pride that was Florence, in the early years of the 16th century. In this little spot of earth called Tuscany, an artist of immeasurable talent, has created a work of art which perfectly captures an age.

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/high-ren-florence-rome/michelangelo/v/michelangelo-david-marble-1501-04-galleria-dell-accademia-florence

Man Pointing | by NekoJoe Man Pointing | by NekoJoe

Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0)

Flicker.com

There is another figure which perfectly captures a different time, and that statue is Man Pointing , see links by the Swiss artist, Alberto Giacometti.
http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/giacometti-man-pointing-n05939

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-1010/art-between-wars/surrealism1/v/giacometti-palace-at-4am-1932

Link to Man Pointing

http://moma.org/exhibitions/2001/giacometti/start/goflash.html    
Giacometti was influenced by the philosophy of existentialism, expounded by the writer Jean-Paul Sartre. What drove Giacometti to make the figure of a man which is hardly a man? What personal experiences in his life would make an artist create such a statue?
What about this standing man perfectly captures our age?
Do some research on existentialism, and the artist Giacometti. Compare the figure of Michelangelo’s David; and Standing Man. Which work affects you most deeply? Can we discuss Giacometti’s work as beautiful? Can it stand up to Michelangelo’s as a work of genius?
What representation of man/woman do you think would be appropriate in the 21st century?

Do some research on Existentialism , and the artist Giacometti.

Compare the figure of Michelangelo’s David ; and Standing Man.Which work affects you most deeply? Can we discuss Giacometti’s work as beautiful?

Can it stand up to Michelangelo’s as a work of genius?

What representation of man/woman do you think would be appropriate in the 21st century?

Find an image of a human being online that represents your idea of 21st century man/woman.

Here is my example :

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2001/09/23/magazine/23MERMELSTEIN-SS_1.html

Rediscovery of Greco Roman Art

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/clan/hd_clan.htm

Leonardo

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/early-europe-and-colonial-americas/renaissance-art-europe-ap/v/leonardo-da-vinci-last-supper-1495-98

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/high-ren-florence-rome/leonardo-da-vinci/a/about-leonardo

Michelangelo

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/high-ren-florence-rome/michelangelo/a/michelangelo-sculptor-painter-architect-and-poet

Raphael

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/early-europe-and-colonial-americas/renaissance-art-europe-ap/a/raphael-school-of-athens