This text tells the interwoven stories of the twelve critical years Florenced experienced at the turn of the 15th century, and of the great statue that grew out of the turmoil of those years, and came to be the symbol of the city forever more. David was Michelangelo's only colossus; but anyone who was anyone in the Renaissance lived between about 1450 and 1550; and most of them were Florentines; and most were in Florence in 1500 when the sculptor set to work.