David’s Nose, and What You Can Learn from It

Ian M. sent this to me and I think it’s fab and want to share it with all of you:

When we were talking about the Statue of David in class this past Wednesday, I was reminded of another anecdote on the same topic- it’s an excerpt from Robert Greene’s 48 Laws of Power, on the subject of winning conflicts through action instead of argument.

Essentially, when working on the David one day, Michelangelo’s project patron came into his studio and told M. that he’d gotten David’s nose wrong. Instead of arguing about it, as one might be wont to do, M. immediately climbed up onto his scaffolding (grabbing a small amount of marble dust as he did so), and pretended to chisel a little bit of the David’s nose away, releasing the concealed dust from his hand as he did so. When he came back down and asked for his patron’s thoughts, the man replied, “I like it better, you’ve made it come alive.”

Now, I didn’t bring this up in class because Michelangelo was a genius and we are all novices (and my personal problem to overcome is that I still DON’T know what the answers are without the help of a great director or acting teacher), but … I hope eventually to garner a strong skill set, and self-belief, so that I can A.) better know what the David (structure of a scene) SHOULD look like, and be “correct,” without needing initial help, and B.) be proficient enough in my technique to know when outside input is incorrect and how to listen/take possibly bad direction without completely hamstringing myself on set. … I’m excited to learn. 

I’ve attached the excerpt in question.