
Magnus nearly stopped as he passed under the bronze gaze, looking at the face, really looking, momentarily forgetting his anxieties. Impossible, but if it was—oh, it would not be the first time such information had been coyly withheld. He looked pointedly at Adrian, willing him to turn around; and Adrian did, and had the grace to look embarrassed.

This is Donatello’s David, which stood in the center of the Medici courtyard through Lorenzo’s time. Sometimes, you just have to give in to temptation. How could I not? I spent about a day pretending to debate the implications like a Serious Writer, but it was never in doubt – a question of how, not if.