Restoration and preservation of things like statues, paintings and documents fascinate me, especially the use of high-tech stuff on objects that are centuries old. _________________________________ After 130 Years, A Masterpiece Awaits a Makeover Cleaning of Michelangelo's 'David' Will Be 6-Month Event for Italians By Daniel Williams Washington Post Foreign Service Monday, December 2, 2002; Page A15 FLORENCE Michelangelo's "David," the giant statue of the boy who slew Goliath, could use a good scrub. He hasn't had a bath for 130 years. Just look at those toenails. Restorers in Florence are preparing to give him the once-over beginning in mid-December. The millimeter by millimeter cleanup is scheduled to last six months and will be finished in plenty of time for his 500th birthday, in 2004. Such is the reverence for the icon that restorers are approaching their work with the care of generals planning a major battle. The surface has been mapped photographically to show every crack, chip and pockmark. Ultraviolet light has been trained on David to expose surface chemical deposits. Minute residue that was scattered in 1991, when a vandal hammered one of David's toes, is being analyzed to check the stability of the marble itself. "We will know more about David than anyone since Michelangelo," observed Franca Falletti, director of the Galleria dell'Accademia, David's museum home. Restorations in Italy are major public events. Older masterpieces are part of the national fabric. Schoolchildren are dutifully trooped from painting to painting, sculpture to sculpture on field trips. The Italian curriculum is filled with lessons on the masters. Renovations are followed in newspapers with the fascination accorded celebrity facelifts. A major piece of art suddenly revealed in a new light can sometimes be disconcerting, like dyed hair on a favorite uncle. A few years ago, when a restored Sistine Chapel was unveiled, exposing bold colors that had been covered with grime, some observers cried foul. They thought that the cleaning had gone too deep, making the gigantic fresco brighter than Michelangelo intended. The recent restoration of Leonardo da Vinci's "Last Supper" included additions to the original, but much decayed, pigments. Some critics reacted with horror, accusing the restorers of taking risky liberties, essentially guessing what the painting should look like. On a few occasions, new facts are revealed, yet mystery deepens. Two years ago in Rome, restoration of "The Baker Girl," a Renaissance portrait of a half-naked woman by Raphael, revealed a wedding ring on the fourth finger of her left hand. The ring had been hidden by a layer of paint that historians believe Raphael applied. Raphael was in love with the model, Margherita Luti. Had he planned to marry her? The painting was completed during his dying days. Did he cover the ring up in grief? In Florence, restorers are using ultrasound to see if a lost fresco by Leonardo called "The Battle of Anghiari" is hidden behind the walls -- and another fresco -- in the Palazzo Vecchio, the government hall of the Renaissance Florentine Republic. Some restorations are simple corrections of misguided handling. Recently, in Rome's Sant' Isidoro Church, the city's Cultural Heritage Office unveiled a pair of statues of Charity and Truth by 17th-century artist Gianlorenzo Bernini. Zealous 19th-century protectors of public morals had covered the bosoms of the pair in bronze corsets, which restorers later removed. A similar modesty drive in the 16th century resulted in a fig leaf over David's exposed genitals, but the metal contraption has been long removed. (Better the fig leaf than the habit of strait-laced Christians in ancient Rome who lopped off offending appendages.) In many ways, David's new bath is unambitious. Crust will be removed, but not down to the marble. "Stains themselves provide a kind of protection for the marble below," explained Falletti, the gallery director. "We try to keep in mind that everything we do is irreversible." In contrast, the last time David was cleaned, in 1873, restorers used a high concentration of hydrochloric acid to dissolve the grime. David was much dirtier then. He had stood outdoors, in front of the Palazzo Vecchio, exposed to smoke and the humid Florentine weather. Some blackened spots still remain from his centuries in the Piazza della Signoria. A copy of the 16-foot, 5-inch statue stands in the original location. A bronze replica overlooks the city from a nearby hill. The biblical story of David's victory was a favorite Florentine motif. An earlier version of David by the sculptor Donatello included a statement on the pedestal that read, "Whoever defends the homeland is victorious." In 1873, Michelangelo's David was moved inside for protection. The statue had suffered damage not only from the weather but from excitable Florentines. Once, lightning struck the base of the statue. Another time, a finger fell off. In 1527, during a revolt against the ruling Medici family, rioters broke off the left arm, the one that holds the sling. The original bits of the arm were kept in storage and replaced. Now, specialized vacuum cleaners and instruments resembling Q-tips are being prepared to get at those hard-to-reach places. Restorers will work from a crane donated by the Fiat auto company. The whole project will cost about $165,000, donated by a Dutch philanthropist. The Galleria decided to forgo additional private financing, which has become a popular source of funds for the many restorations around Italy. "This would be the most prestigious of renovations, so getting money would be no problem. But we couldn't bear to commercialize David," Falletti said.
Meanwhile, in the darkest parts of Florence, where the shadows are afraid to fall, Goliath smells an opportunity and begins to plot.
Indirectly. A table or bench or something was thrown out of a window, striking the sculpture and shattering the arm. Fortunately, many were distraught and were able to salvage the pieces so that it could be restored.
