Michelangelo’s David Finds a Home in the Swiss Alps

Christian Bolt, a Swiss sculptor and professor at the Florentine Accademia delle Arti del Disegno, installed a five-meter-tall marble copy of Michelangelo’s David in the Swiss municipality of Klosters. Bolt’s local cultural initiative, Scultura Viva, spearheaded the project, aiming to explore how an icon changes when removed from its original context.

The sculpture was created in Carrara, Italy, using “Marmo bianco Michelangelo” marble from the same quarries Michelangelo himself utilized. A robot initially shaped the marble, with artisans later refining details like the eyes and nose.

Transporting the over nine-ton sculpture to Klosters required a specialized trailer and one of the largest mobile cranes available. Though David is one of the most replicated artworks globally, full-size marble versions remain rare, only around half a dozen are known to exist. The original David, once positioned in front of Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio, now resides within the Galleria dell’Accademia to protect it from the elements, with a copy standing in its place.