L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MAY 18, 2023 www.italoamericano.org 12 L'Italo-Americano A sk 10 employed p e o p l e t h e i r o p i n i o n o f t h e b e s t j o b i n t h e world, and don't be surprised if you get 10 dif- f e r e n t r e s p o n s e s r a n g i n g from serious to humorous to daydreaming. T h e r e ' s o n e r e s p o n d e r , h o w e v e r , w h o i s l i k e l y t o come up with a reply that's difficult, if not impossible, to dispute. She is Eleonora P u c c i , who works for the d i s t i n g u i s h e d G a l l e r i a d e l l ' A c c a d e m i a i n F l o - rence, Italy. Her job descrip- tion is cleaning lady but be assured she's no ordinary cleaning lady. Not even close. Pucci has the enviable task of cleaning and preserving M i c h e l a n g e l o ' s m a s t e r p i e c e s t a t u e o f David, which has been the Galleria's headline tourist attraction for 141 years. It's an assignment that puts her up front and personal with one of the world's most his- torically iconic works of art. Pucci describes her occu- pation as exhilarating and detail-oriented. "To be able to participate even in a small way to the conservation of David's status and fascina- tion makes this the best job i n t h e w o r l d , " s h e s a i d . "Especially since I'm the only person doing it at this time." Early one recent Monday, the day the Galleria is closed to the public, the clamor of construction echoes through- out the building as a special- ized team erects a scaffold tower in the spacious rotun- d a s u r r o u n d i n g D a v i d . Throughout the morning, the tower is meticulously posi- t i o n e d s o t h a t P u c c i c a n reach the 17-foot sculpture from top to bottom and all around. She nimbly scampers up the framework until she is eye to eye with the giant fig- ure that Michelangelo carved from a single block of marble from 1501 to 1504. The Galle- ria has been David's home since 1882. The job begins with a pho- tographic close-up to detect any wear and tear and to ver- ify if microscopic dust and debris have settled on the surface or in any cracks or c r e v i c e s s i n c e i t w a s l a s t inspected and cleaned. C o n d i t i o n s c a n c h a n g e a c c o r d i n g t o t h e s e a s o n , number of visitors, and type o f c l o t h i n g t h e y m a y b e wearing. Diminutive fibers can get caught among spi- derwebs in the sculptured locks of David's hair. It's a normal incident and all the more reason that the works are monitored regularly. Now the dusting begins. Using a small brush with soft synthetic bristles that capture dirt easily, Pucci s t a r t s t o g e n t l y s t r o k e David's head to gather tiny particles that are sucked up with a compact, specially developed vacuum cleaner designed for museum statu- ary and architecture. The d e v i c e i s s t r a p p e d t o h e r back. She takes her time – the dusting normally lasts an entire morning – using sen- sitive, sweeping strokes and caressing the stony cheeks with the back of her hand. After nearly four years on the job, she has developed t h e u t m o s t r e s p e c t f o r M i c h e l a n g e l o ' s c r e a t i v e genius. Dusting David brings on deep emotion and admira- tion for an artist capable of crafting such impressions from stone, says Pucci. She feels the same, she admitted, when she dusts Galleria's so- called prisoners, the slave f i g u r e s M i c h e l a n g e l o designed for the mausoleum of Pope Julius II but never finished. "In the prisoners," she said, "you can see the cre- ative marks of his chisel and get a sense of how he crafts marble to release the images he believed were trapped within the stone." Although it is dusted at least six times a year, David has not been deep-cleaned since 2004, when a dispute surfaced over which clean- ing equipment and methods to use. And although David earns special treatment, a good portion of Pucci's time is s p e n t e n s u r i n g t h a t t h e museum's total collection of valuables is in tip-top shape. She also examines paintings a n d w o o d e n f r a m e s f o r warping, flaking paint, and woodworms. A l l o f t h e c o l l e c t i o n underwent a recent inspec- t i o n w h e n t h e G a l l e r i a received a substantial refur- bishment to "bring it into the 21st century," said direc- tor Cecilie Hollberg. The renovation coincided with the 2020 pandemic lock- down, permitting an over- haul of the air conditioning, electrical and lighting sys- tems to be performed with- o u t i n c o n v e n i e n c e t o t h e public. The recent opening of a collection of plaster models b y 1 9 t h - c e n t u r y s c u l p t o r Lorenzo Bartolini made the Galleria a place for Floren- tines and tourists to be even more proud of, said Holl- berg. Although Pucci's services are exclusive to the Galleria, she expresses deep concern over what's happening to other parts of Florence. For example, a short walk from the galleria lies the famed Piazza della Signoria, where an outdoor copy of David was installed in 1910. Here, too, restorers climb up and d o w n t h e s c a f f o l d i n g t o clean and preserve a statue e x p o s e d t o y e a r a r o u n d weather. Compresses soaked with n o n - t o x i c c h e m i c a l s a r e required to remove pollu- t a n t s , m o s s , a l g a e , a n d lichens resulting from con- stant exposure. Besides the natural elements, the city's open-air artworks must deal with the shock and shame of v a n d a l i s m . V a n d a l s a r e probably the most persistent problem for the cultural pat- rimony of a city like Flo- rence, according to Giorgio Caselli, an architect who manages the maintenance of outdoor monuments. "Graf- fiti, tourists using fountains a s p e r s o n a l t o i l e t s , a n d unruly soccer fans in town for a game all combine to create a very high level of incivility and disrespect," he said. M e a n w h i l e , P u c c i remains busy and dedicated to presenting Galleria visi- tors with David and other exhibitions with their finest possible physical image. To her, it's more than just the best job in the world. It's also an obvious labor of love. People admiring the David. Did you know it needs to be cleaned regularly? (Photo: Jon Chica/Shutterstock) LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE TRADITIONS CHUCK PECORARO Cleaning Michelangelo's David: the best job in the world

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