[Joe 6-pack]

"However, they were smart enough to realize the David was a masterpiece right away and put it in front of the Palazzo Vecchio."

How 've you been RP? Inasmuch as we've set sail to set the record straight, I think it ought be mentioned that in a strictly technical sense David is no masterpiece, as during the era in question a "masterpiece," was the work executed by a guild apprentice which would be critiqued by senior members of the guild to determine if the apprentice was worthy of having his apprentice status upgraded to that of, "master." As such Pieta is Michelangelo's one and only masterpiece...

[Republicanprofessor]

Okay, point well taken, but nowadays we use "masterpiece" to connote any great work of art. If one pays $12 per person at the Accademia in Florence, and about the only thing worth seeing there is David, I'd still call it a masterpiece.

Michelangelo's unfinished Slaves there are also great, but the rest is rather disappointing. Jalisco, do you agree? There was a REALLY unattractive postmodern interpretation of Michelangelo's Last Judgement there in Dec. 2004, showing a huge nude self-portrait of the artist. I thought it was hideous.

Good to "hear" from you again, Joe 6-pack.