DAVID’S SORE FEET
The statue’s center of gravity does not
align with that of its base, so if the base
is level, the statue’s body is off-balance.
For much of its time the base had been
positioned on uneven, shifting ground.
This put enormous pressure on the body’s
narrowest part, the ankles, causing the
hairline fractures that now threaten the
statue’s continued existence.FRAGILE GIANT
Even apart from his endangered ankles,
the condition of David is far from pristine.
The marble has become porous over the
years as a result of weathering and bird
feces during the three and a half centuries
that the statue stood outside.David is extremely sensitive to the
stress any tilting would produce, and
all the hairline fractures could easily
spread upward until a breaking point
is reached. The statue might simply
snap off at the knees and topple in
a heap. But even though earthquakes
can’t be predicted or prevented, they
can be prepared for. In this regard
California leads the way, and the J.
Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles
has spent decades preparing for a
seismic eve nt. It also champions the
efforts around the world to mitigate
potential damage from earthquakes.
The Getty mounts its fragile statues
on bases with seismic isolators to
prevent damage. That would be an
expensive proposition in the case of
David, but it would still cost far less
than the Accademia earns each year
from his presence. There are project
proposals dating from as early as
2012, but Angelo Tartuferi, director
of the Accademia from 2013 to 2015,
was unable to get official approval.
His successor, Cecilie Hollberg, had
seen the threat of an earthquake as
“hypothetical” and felt there were
more pressing problems. She was
abruptly fired in 2019. So will David
still be a round to gre et visitor s to the
Accademia in 50 years (or 5 years)?
Much will depend on the politics of
Italian museums—and on fate... PHOTOS:^ Getty^
Ima
ges(^3 );PR
.ideasanddiscoveries.com 65 May 2020