# How can I purchase Michaelangelo's David? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 15, 2009, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-purchase-michaelangelos-david/513906 "2009-10-15T14:15:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-purchase-michaelangelos-david/513906/21 "2009-10-15T21:19:11Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Are your funds unlimited? You might want to set up a new, state-of-the-art tourist-friendly climate-controlled museum for Florentine sculpture in your home territory. Bide your time, establishing your credentials and acquiring quality pieces. Eventually, you’ll get _David_ on loan. Then, pounce: you can vanish into the mists while your hired thugs remove it in the middle of the night and ship it to your tropical island. Morning comes with the ensuing scandal, but the figurehead you’ve set up as head of the foundation knows nothing about it and you can’t be traced. Insurance covers the cost to the Academy / Italy, and you have what you want. > > But a straightforward cash transaction is simply not possible. Nah. For this, you need Ninjas. And have you _priced_ Ninjas lately? Cheaper to hire Michaelangelo to make another. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-purchase-michaelangelos-david/513906/22 "2009-10-15T21:20:44Z")
But could I purchase it and grind it up as an aphrodesiac? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-purchase-michaelangelos-david/513906/23 "2009-10-15T23:54:31Z")
> [@CaveMike](#): > > Sure, but be careful who you invite to the grand opening. If a bunch of hippie kids and a semi-talking dog show up, you might want to delay the swipe another day or two. Just lay on a buffet and make your getaway as they assemble improbably tall sandwiches. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-purchase-michaelangelos-david/513906/24 "2009-10-16T01:02:53Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > He said “Michaelangelo’s David”, so how is that ambiguous? Michelangelo was not above duplicating his own work. He has at least two pieces knows as “The Pieta.” And don’t get me started on how many “Thinkers” Rodin cranked out! ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-purchase-michaelangelos-david/513906/25 "2009-10-16T02:55:37Z")
> [@gazpacho](#): > > You probably will need to get a new house. It is a big statue. So factor that expense in. Low interest 30 year morgage. Just buy the White House first. If that’s not available buy Buckingham Palace. Should be no problem. So, what was the question? ---
**Author:** ![Gotterfunken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@Gotterfunken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gotterfunken)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-purchase-michaelangelos-david/513906/26 "2009-10-16T04:34:36Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Michelangelo was not above duplicating his own work. He has at least two pieces knows as “The Pieta.” And don’t get me started on how many “Thinkers” Rodin cranked out! But those Pietas are quite distinct sculptures despite their shared subject matter, with the figures in different poses and compositions. No one would confuse the St. Peter’s Pieta with the Rondanini Pieta. Likewise, I’m not aware of any replicas of the St. Peter’s Pieta or any of the other Pietas authorized by Michelangelo. Similarly, I’m not aware of any duplicate versions of the David by Michelangelo himself. You’re right about Rodin, though–he produced numerous versions of the Thinker (in addition to its original conception as a figure in the Gates of Hell). ---
**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-purchase-michaelangelos-david/513906/27 "2009-10-16T05:11:27Z")
No The only way you could probably get it is if you make your own art mesueme and slowly build up very very fine pieces and ask them to trade outright everything you have for it. they still may not go to it. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-purchase-michaelangelos-david/513906/28 "2009-10-16T05:38:09Z")
You are probably going to need a rare trillion dollar bill, the one with [Harry Truman’s face](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trouble_with_Trillions) on it. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-purchase-michaelangelos-david/513906/29 "2009-10-16T22:28:09Z")
> [@Chez\_Guevara](#): > > In order to avoid the inevitable disappointment that will follow an unsuccessful offer for the statue, I suggest the OP considers buying a _David_ fridge magnet instead. A 7.6cm magnet can be acquired for a mere £2.95 ($4.79), thus removing the requirement for a best-selling memoir to fund the purchase. 1. Apparently, you haven’t seen what $100, American, can do!:dubious: 2. More importantly, it isn’t a requirement to write the best-selling memoir-writing the memoir is an obligation that I have to myself, my nation, and the world. humbly, hh ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-purchase-michaelangelos-david/513906/30 "2009-10-16T23:32:54Z")
It’s owned by the government of _Italy_. Just offer to trade it for a couple of hookers. ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-purchase-michaelangelos-david/513906/31 "2009-10-17T01:38:23Z")
It’s owned by the government of _Italy_. Just overthrow it and start your own. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-purchase-michaelangelos-david/513906/32 "2009-10-17T01:46:41Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > It’s owned by the government of _Italy_. Just offer to trade it for a couple of hookers. > [@Hung\_Mung](#): > > It’s owned by the government of _Italy_. Just overthrow it and start your own. There’s no reason not to combine these two ideas and install a new government of hookers. I’m not sure what kind of deal you can make for _David_, but I do know that they see plenty of dicks every day so they won’t be too attached to a naked guy statue. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-purchase-michaelangelos-david/513906/33 "2009-10-17T02:21:54Z")
Ever heard of [la Cicciolina](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilona_Staller)? That’s the stage name of a Hungarian-born Italian woman named Ilona Staller who was a porn star _and_ a member of parliament. She was also a leader of the “Love Party.” ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_Dubinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@Alex\_Dubinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_Dubinsky)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-purchase-michaelangelos-david/513906/34 "2009-10-17T02:21:58Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > There’s no reason not to combine these two ideas and install a new government of hookers. I’m not sure what kind of deal you can make for _David_, but I do know that they see plenty of dicks every day so they won’t be too attached to a naked guy statue. priceless [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-purchase-michaelangelos-david/513906.md?page=1)