A gallery is fighting against commercialization of the artwork.
Aline of shops sell souvenirs of Michelangelo’s David figure in Florence. Many present his nude figure and genitalia, something that Cecilie Hollberg, director of Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence, finds “debasing.” In order to protect the dignity of the statue, she’s trying to ban these vendors from selling unauthorized products. The debate is raging if the demands are against freedom of expression and copyright law, but for now, the souvenirs are still on display and available for tourists to take home.
Fight for Art
Since its completion in 1504, David has been a cultural landmark. Renaissance artist Michelangelo’s most famous work rests inside the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence. Outside street vendors focus on parts of the 5-meter-tall figure, and often, his genitalia. Fridge magnets, miniatures, postcards, aprons, t-shirts, and other products magnify the biblical figure’s private parts, enraging curators who find commercialization of this revered figure disrespectful.
German art historian Cecilie Hollberg has been the director of the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence since 2015. She has championed the fight for dignity of David and has been trying to stop the commercialization of the Renaissance statue. Since she took office, the director has also been involved in other court cases to protect unauthorized use of other artworks. The first win stopped scalpers from selling entrance packages with David’s image outside the gallery.
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The state attorney is evoking Italy’s cultural heritage code to stop people from using artworks without permission and licenses. Cease and desist orders are pushing companies to comply. GQ Italia came into the line of fire when they used David’s body and a model’s face, and luxury brand Longchamp was also targeted when it used David’s details in their “Le Pliage” bag. Hollberg said that the gallery has won hundreds of thousands of euros since 2017.
These wins have also accelerated other lawsuits in Italy including Leonardo’s Vitruvian Man and Botticelli’s Birth of Venus. The Court of Venice ruled last year that the image of Vitruvian Man can’t be used without Venice’s Galleria dell-Accademia’s consent after the German-based company Ravensburger produced jigsaw puzzles in its likeness.
In effect since 2004, the Code of Cultural Heritage and Landscape is a unique provision that gives the copyright to the museum or institute that owns the piece. This is in direct contradiction to the Berne Convention that allows copyright of intellectual property to expire after 70 years of the artist’s death. Italy has also signed it, and the European Commission is considering whether Italy’s code interferes with the copyright law.
Hollberg has also been vocal about her contempt for mass tourism in the city. Recently, her comments likening Florence to a prostitute were widely criticized by politicians, who thought the remarks were offensive, and she later apologized.
Italy’s far-right government is pushing for Italians to fill the top positions in arts—including the one that Hollberg holds. The gallery director, apart from winning lawsuits to stop commercialization of figures, has also been successful in drawing more visitors to the gallery. However, her contract expires this year in June.
Michelangelo’s David also caused an uproar in Florida when a school principal was forced to resign over showing the biblical statue to students. Last year in March, Hope Carrasquilla was asked by the board of Tallahassee Classical school to either step down or accept termination after parents complained about showing sixth graders the 16th century statue. It was called pornographic, a sentiment that the mayor of Florence and Galleria dell’Accademia director both condemned. A few weeks later, Carrasquilla visited the gallery where David stands and was hosted by Hollberg.
Moreover, the Code of Cultural Heritage and Landscape is nothing more than museum greed. It turns out that Michelangelo, Botticelli, et al, that this code seeks to protect from exploitation by the general public have been dead for a lot longer than 70 years and that this Code violates copyright law and does nothing but help the greed of museums that are nothing more than caretakers, who for that matter, often don't do a very good job at it. The use of the images, etc. of long ago created great works of art actually helps promote visits by every-day people to see the originals, which fulfills the main job of museums which is assessibility to these art works for all, better than what the museums do themselves, where they try to limit those they feel deserve to see the art because they appreciate it by fees that many can't afford, etc.