Narrator: Michelangelo starts work on his David early in the morning of September 13, 1501.

He toils for almost 2 1/2 years before finally unveiling his 8 1/2 ton masterpiece.

[Haunting music] ♪ [Choral singing] ♪ Kate: David is so impressive.

It's so realistic.

To have been able to do that out of a lump of rock is incredible.

The moment that Michelangelo chose to depict is not the victorious moment where David can stand on top of Goliath and he's won.

It's the moment just before.

It's the moment where he's not sure if he's gonna win the fight, where he's scared.

And you can see the tension in his body.

You can see the fact that he's just starting to twist and the muscles are bunching up.

Antony: David totally changes the conception of sculpture.

He shows that he is able to make inert matter live and asking it to carry feeling and thought.

David: When David was revealed, you know, people couldn't believe it.

It's not just this placid, blank face.

There is thought going on.

And to be able to sculpt thought... that's incredible.

To be able to sculpt thought onto someone's face, [Laughs] come on, it's crazy.

[Blows] ♪ Jerry: So, in a sense, it's exceeded its commission.

But there's a classic piece of republican bureaucracy around the David piece because there is a committee which is set up.

And they meet to discuss both the piece and where it should be sited.

And Leonardo da Vinci sits on that committee.

Michelangelo: I wanted it placed outside, so it could be seen in close up and in the round by everybody-- a proud symbol of the city in defiance of the tyrants that surrounded it, hmm.

[Sighs] But not everybody agreed.

♪ Narrator: Leonardo senses an opportunity to keep Michelangelo's sculpture hidden in the shadows.

He declares that David's nudity is an offense to the good people of Florence and should not be publicly displayed.

David caused a bit of a scandal, and can still cause scandal to this very day because he's very lifelike.