Perhaps the following link may be useful:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090307220753AAwc5mz

Perhaps Michelangelo's aim was to represent the hero of
David - showing strength, courage, virtue, intelligence, and
not physical perfection. He may also have been restricted by
the papacy under whose direction he worked.

Apparently the statue was not a papal commission.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_(Michelangelo).

... Originally commissioned as one of a series of statues of prophets to be positioned along the roofline of the east end of Florence Cathedral, the statue was instead placed in a public square, outside the Palazzo della Signoria, the seat of civic government in Florence, where it was unveiled on 8 September 1504. Because of the nature of the hero that it represented, it soon came to symbolize the defence of civil liberties embodied in the Florentine Republic, an independent city-state threatened on all sides by more powerful rival states and by the hegemony of the Medici family. The eyes of David, with a warning glare, were turned towards Rome.[3] The statue was moved to the Accademia Gallery in Florence in 1873, and later replaced at the original location by a replica.

History

The history of the statue begins before Michelangelo's work on it from 1501 to 1504.[4] Prior to Michelangelo's involvement, the Overseers of the Office of Works of the Duomo (Operai), consisting mostly of members of the influential woolen cloth guild, the Arte della Lana, had plans to commission a series of twelve large Old Testament sculptures for the buttresses of the cathedral of Santa Maria Del Fiore.[5]

...Rossellino's contract was terminated soon thereafter, and the block of marble remained neglected for twenty-five years, all the while exposed to the elements in the yard of the cathedral workshop. ... They ordered the block of stone, which they called The Giant, "raised on its feet" so that a master experienced in this kind of work might examine it and express an opinion. Though Leonardo da Vinci and others were consulted, it was Michelangelo, only twenty-six years old, who convinced the Operai that he deserved the commission. On August 16, 1501, Michelangelo was given the official contract to undertake this challenging new task.[8] He began carving the statue early in the morning on Monday, September 13, a month after he was awarded the contract. He would work on the massive biblical hero for more than two years.

<< He may also have been restricted by the papacy under whose direction he worked >>

Yes Lexi, or something similar.

I can envisage him having to be very careful about fully sculpting a young nude male figure. If he’d represented the penis at full size or even at any really believable size, he could possibly have been hounded into oblivion as a homosexual or pervert.

Michelangelo may have felt that he simply had to make those bits unnaturally tiny in order to make it undeniable that he was interested in representing the prowess of David and not at all concerned about the bits that a gay man would be interested in.

Just a thought.

Dear Ludwig,

On the other hand, here's another thought:

If Michelangelo had been a heterosexual,
the Sistine Chapel would have been painted
a basic white and with a roller. ;-)

Here's Michelangelo's "Dying Slave"....the same concentration on the muscular form of the male.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/amthomson/4237378674

Donatello's David, which is a much more effeminate rendering - almost androgynous....something referred to as the "Beautiful Boy".

http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/arth/arth213/donatello_david.html

Dear Ludwig,

One can discuss the statue of David at great length. There are many references to the statue - what it means - what it shows - what the artist intended - what it shows about the society of its time. One can do that with great art. It carries much meaning.

We can appreciate the technical virtuosity of the chalk artist and his ingenuity in producing optic tricks. There is no depth of meaning - no commentary on society - no evocation of feeling - nothing beyond the representation.

Perhaps the chalk artist may end up producing great art. So far as I can see he has just produced clever art.