Aug. 8, 1873 - 2023: Michelangelo's David has been in the Accademia Gallery in Florence for 150 years

Tuesday, August 8, marks one hundred and fifty years since the arrival of Michelangelo’s David at the Accademia Gallery in Florence: it wasAugust 8, 1873. The imposing marble statue, created by uun young Michelangelo between 1501 and 1504, had been placed in Piazza Signoria, on the Arengario of Palazzo Vecchio, to symbolize the political virtues of the Florentine Republic. Sculptor Lorenzo Bartolini was the first, as early as 1842, to submit a plan to move the David, pointing out that “this magnificent statue degrades in the weather, the desire is to be able to preserve it.” In the second half of the 19th century, in 1866, a commission of artists scientists and technicians, chaired by Luigi Menabrea and Emilio Santarelli, assessed the urgency and necessity of removing it from the elements.

In 1872 it was then decided to remove the statue and, following the suggestion of Emilio De Fabris, among the most influential Florentine architects, to build an ex-novo museum space that could worthily house it. The Galleria dell’Accademia was chosen as just such a place, De Fabris designed “a veritable tribune in honor of the supreme artist,” a secular temple covered by a glass vault that would ensure the most naturallighting possible.

The physical move lasted seven days, from July 30 to August 8, 1873, and mostly during the early morning hours, from 4 to 11 a.m., due to the great heat. It was a cyclopean feat that aroused great enthusiasm and curiosity in the Florentine population, recorded with an emphatic tone in the local chronicles.

Architect Emilio De Fabris and engineer Francesco Porra created a wagon cushioned to absorb any shocks, a wood and iron castle that moved on railroad tracks, as evidenced by the preparatory model, preserved in the Casa Buonarroti Museum in Florence. The castle with the statue weighed as much as 19 tons.

On August 4, after passing through the main streets of the city, the David entered neall’Accademia di Belle Arti through an opening obtained by destroying the building’s entrance wall. In the diary of operations, a final note states, “Friday, August 8. Reconducted and lowered to the base, where it will stay as long as God wills.”

“Today, 150 years later, after that bold and groundbreaking feat, the Accademia Gallery in Florence continues to be the home of David,” commented director Cecilie Hollberg. “An iconic work whose symbolic power and perfection remains relevant today, beyond any historical period, attracting thousands of people from all over the world just to cross its wondrous gaze. Our task is to continue to protect her. And for its anniversary we present it in a new light.”

To celebrate this sculptural masterpiece, the Accademia Gallery has trecently provided new lighting with the latest LED technology; the skylight has also been secured and thoroughly cleaned so that natural light can filter in well. Visitors can thus grasp all the details and enjoy different light depending on the various times of the day.

Photo by Guido Cozzi.

Aug. 8, 1873 - 2023: Michelangelo's David has been in the Accademia Gallery in Florence for 150 years

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