A fight to protect the dignity of Michelangelo's David raises questions about freedom of expression

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

FLORENCE, Italy (AP) — Michelangelo’s David has been a towering figure in Italian culture since its completion in 1504. But in the current era of the quick buck, curators worry the marble statue’s religious and political significance is being diminished by the thousands of refrigerator magnets and other souvenirs sold around Florence focusing on David’s genitalia.

The Galleria dell’Accademia’s director, Cecilie Hollberg, has positioned herself as David’s defender since her arrival at the museum in 2015, taking swift aim at those profiteering from his image, often in ways she finds “debasing.”

In that way, she is a bit of a David herself against the Goliath of unfettered capitalism with its army of street vendors and souvenir shop operators hawking aprons of the statue's nude figure, T-shirts of it engaged in obscene gestures, and ubiquitous figurines, often in Pop Art neon.

----------

No matter how many lawsuits Hollberg has initiated — she won’t say how many — the proliferation of David likenesses continues.

“I am sorry that there is so much ignorance and so little respect in the use of a work that for centuries has been praised for its beauty, for its purity, for its meanings, its symbols, to make products in bad taste, out of plastic,” Hollberg said.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/a-fight-to-protect-the-dignity-of-michelangelo-s-david-raises-questions-about-freedom-of-expression/ar-BB1kFwht?

[riversedge]

1. I am glad to see that some are trying to protect these arts.

[madaboutharry]

2. So many of the photos at the link show souvenirs in very bad taste.

I think it is kind of sad there is even a market for that stuff.