Michelangelo’s David ‘at risk from Patti Smith concert’

A museum in Florence has been criticised for its plans to celebrate the Italian city’s most prized possession - the giant statue of David by Michelangelo - with a concert by Patti Smith, the US punk rock singer and poet.

Fernando De Simone, an architect from Padua, has long argued that the marble sculpture is at risk from “micro-cracks” around its ankles, which could be made worse by vibrations caused by music or large gatherings in its vicinity.

“The Patti Smith concert … is dangerous,” Mr De Simone said this week, calling on the Galleria dell’Accademia and the Italian ministry of culture to restrict access to the statue, ban large groups and make visitors queue single file to admire it.

Cecilie Hollberg, the head of the Galleria dell’Accademia, rejected the idea that the event she was planning to host at the foot of the statue to mark the 140th anniversary of the museum on June 27 could endanger it.

“It is definitely fake news, it does not correspond to reality. We are talking about a musical reading, and not a rock concert. We have been committed for years to protecting cultural heritage,” she said.

Universal model of male beauty

On its website, the museum advertises the event as a mix of readings dedicated to Michelangelo and acoustic performances of some of Smith’s most famous songs. The event is fully booked.

The sculpture of David, depicting the biblical figure gearing up for battle against Goliath, is considered a universal model of male beauty. Michelangelo completed it in three years, between 1501 and 1504.

Originally commissioned to adorn Florence’s cathedral, it was instead installed in the central Piazza della Signoria, in front of the town hall, and quickly became a symbol of the Florentine Republic.

The statue was moved to the Galleria dell’Accademia in 1873 to protect it from wind and rain, leaving a replica in Piazza della Signoria.