Splendor in Stone

~ a beautiful ~ but damaged ~ ode to love
~ two lovers in endless embrace ~ in Capri

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~ a marble statue in the Bargello

~ standing near Michelangelo's Bacchus

~ a photo of Donatello's masterpiece of David

~ completed in 1430

~

~ for Michelangelo - born in 1475

~ it was an inspiration for his David

~ completed in 1504 ~ when he was 29 years old

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~ a marble by the Master ~ Michelangelo
~ from the Medici Chapel ~ (sculpted :: 1534)

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~ Florence's Neptune ~ in the plaza fountain

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~ two statues from the Uffizi ~ in Florence

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~ a lovely Madonna in marble

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~ from the d'Orsay Museum's collection

~ two statues ~ one with both front & back

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~ the iconic Venus de Milo

~ in the Louvre Museum

~

~ and sitting right next to it

~ the exquisite torso of a young man

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~ the statue of Cupid and Psyche

~ in the Louvre ~ in Paris

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~ the mighty statue of Nike ~ in Paris

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~ a warrior's statue in Versailles

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~ after the volcanic ash hit Pompeii

~ it hardened around the bodies of the dead

~ when the city was discovered

~ strange holes were found in the stone

~ it was eventually found that

~ the bodies had rotted away

~ but the ash/stone remained in position

~ by pouring cement into those empty holes

~ and removing the surrounding ash/stone

~ the shapes of the victims' bodies emerged

~ there are a number of them in Pompeii

~ it's a strange, amazing, haunting sight

~ like they're sitting right in front of you

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~ a statue of Roman Emperor Hadrian's lover

~ Antinous ~ from the 4th Century

~ a warrior's statue stands in Hadrian's Palace

~ just outside Rome

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the front and back of a statue
~ in the Vatican Museum
~ (note the grapes in the boy's hand)

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~ a statue in the Vatican sunlight