Referred to people that exhibit a weakness or a flaw that others have been unaware of

When the coach was arrested for drunken driving, the team players realized that their hero had feet of clay

Quando l'allenatore è stato arrestato per guida in stato di ubriachezza, i suoi giocatori hanno realizzato che il loro eroe era solo un gigante dai piedi d'argilla

The resignation of the newly-elected senator for an extra-marital affair, could be either a noble act or an own goal, seeing that neo-puritanism is an idol with feet of clay

Le dimissioni del neo senatore per una relazione extra coniugale è un atto nobile o un autogol, visto che mostra come il neo puritanesimo sia un gigante dai piedi d'argilla

This image comes from the Bible (Daniel II, 31-35), narrating that the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar had a dream, which was recalled and interpreted by the prophet Daniel: "You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening. The head of this image was of fine gold, its breast and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it smote the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces; then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth."