As one of the most iconic pieces of art, Michelangelo’s David has come in for more than its fair share of criticism. It’s head’s too big, its hands are too big, its eyes are squint. One american school teacher ended up having to resign after showing a picture of the masterpiece to his class as it was considered pornographic.
Michelangelo, along with other artists of his time, quite often exaggerated aspects of their art to make a point. We have some sculptures that leave us wondering what exactly that muscle is that is protruding from their shoulder. Is it a rare anatomical variation or was it just the artist giving his hero more muscles?
When we look at David, we need to remember it was designed to be viewed from a long way below. It was originally planned to be on a roof top and not down in the piazza at eye level – well as much as anything that is 17 foot tall can be at eye level.
To ensure that artistic vanishing points didn’t make his sculpture look out of proportion when viewed from several storeys below, Michelangelo had to ensure that parts of the statue that are going to be closer to you were smaller and parts that were further away (the head) were larger.
What that doesn’t explain is an interesting anatomical variation that is almost completely overlooked. David’s second toe is longer than his big toe.
This variation is now called Morton’s toe after Dr Dudley Morton who studied the phenomenon in the 1930’s. Before that it was referred to as Greek Toe.
The Greek had a theory about a Golden Ratio which could be found through out nature. The concept was developed by Euclid in 300 BC who basically invented geometry. This longer second toe was a signifier of beauty and set them apart from the Romans and Egyptians.
Once the idea of the golden ratio became more prevalent, Morton’s toe started appearing in more art. It can be found in works of art by Sandro Botticelli and the Statue of Liberty feet also show a longer second toe.
People who read feet (yes that’s a thing) have nothing bad to say about Morton’s Toe so if you are one of the 25% of the population who have this variation then consider yourself blessed with some ancient Greek claim to splendor and enjoy your day.
