Despite his artistic success in Rome， the ever-restless Michelangelo soon returned to his home in Florence， where he received the greatest challenge of his early career——he was commissioned by the Florentine Office of Works to carve a statue out of a huge block of marble that had been badly damaged by an earlier artist 35 years before。

Michelangelo had an mystical belief that the figures he carved already existed fully formed within the blocks of stone he worked。 By studying the raw marble，examining its patterns of fissures and veins， he would sense where the figure slept。 Then， layer by layed， blow by blow， he would liberate his creation from its rocky prison。 Isolating himself with the enormous piece of marble， Michelangelo chipped and hammered away， letting no one but his few assistants observe his progress。 After four years back-breaking laber， he finally unveiled his giant sculpture。 Standing over 14 feet tall， the magnificent David was a towering achievement both literally and figuratively。 From the moment that David was revealed， Michelangelo was hailed as the greatest sculptors who ever lived。

儘管在羅馬取得了藝術上的成就，但永不停歇的米開朗基羅很快回到了他在佛羅倫薩的家。在那裡，他收到了他職業生涯早期最大的挑戰。受佛羅倫薩工程辦公室的委託，用一塊大理石來雕刻一個雕像，而這塊大理石已經在35年前被一名早期的藝術家嚴重的破壞了。

米開朗基羅有一種神秘的自信，即他所雕刻的人物已經完全形成並存在於他進行創作的石塊內。透過研究未經加工的大理石，檢查它的裂縫和紋路的模式，他能感知到他要雕的人物沉睡在哪裡。然後，一層又一層，一擊又一擊，他將他的作品從岩石監獄中解放出來。米開朗基羅用這塊巨大的大理石塊把自己隔絕開來，他鑿開石塊用錘子敲掉多餘的部分，除了他的幾個助手之外，他沒讓任何人觀察進度。經過四年艱苦繁重的勞動，他終於揭開了他的巨型雕塑，這尊身高超過14英尺的壯觀的大衛像，無論其真實樣貌，還是象徵意義來說，都是一項輝煌的成就。從大衛像被揭露的那一刻起，米開朗基羅就被譽為有史以來最偉大的雕塑家之一。