Home to Michelangelo's original David — the marble colossus completed in 1504, 5.17 metres tall, displayed in the museum's purpose-built Tribune since 1873. The work repays extended looking: the oversized hands and head, intended to be viewed from below, and the coiled tension of the body are more powerful in person than any reproduction suggests.
Also houses Michelangelo's four unfinished Prisoners, figures seemingly struggling to free themselves from the marble — among the most affecting works in the building. Book tickets well in advance; this is one of the most visited museums in Italy.