This is one of those sculptures I’ve always known about but never seen in person and once again seeing them in this setting, in galleries that are likely similar in style and lighting to where they might have been displayed when they were created is always a thrill. What I never realized is that the figures are on a low pedestal so they are accessible as if you are standing next to them rather than looking up at them. I always imagined them on a very high pedestal. The anecdote about this work is that it was excavated during the life of Michelangelo and that it had a profound influence on his work. Even if it isn’t true, it seems like it should be.