Comparing Donatello's earlier marble version of Goliath's severed head with that in Donatello's later bronze version, Liz asks what happend to the stone embedded in the giant's forehead. Surely she noticed that the bronze David holds a stone in his left hand?

That doesn;'t really answer Liz's question, though. Since David has already cut off Goliath's head with the giant's own sword, the stone that David holds now is either a second stone, or the one that killed Goliath and that he has plucked out from his forehead. There seems to be a small gash over Goliath's left eyebrow, a gash possibly gilded to enhance it? But it's not big enough to kill him? And what would be the point in removing the stone? Or for the sculptor to relocate it to David's hand, thus spoiling its dramatic impact? So replacing it with that lowered visor remains puzzling.

I think I read somewhere that drill holes on the back of the sling pouch and behind the fingers of his right hand show that before the marble David was sent to the Palazzo Vecchio Donatello shifted David's slingshot from his left hand to his right. But if you look at the statue, that shift puts the sling on an odd angle across his body to the pouch with that second stone resting on his forehead just above the fatal first stone.

One other oddity about that earlier marble version. Why does David stare so blankly off into the distance instead of down at Goliath's head at his feet? Has he now turned from warrior into prophet, into a seer from the savior of his people from slavery to the tyrant he has just killed? Thank goodness Donatello didn't repeat that undramatic loss of focus when he came to create his bronze version.

I look forward to what Liz has to say about that one!.