Michaelangelos colossal statue of David is probably the best-known symbol of Florence and a major attraction in the Galleria dell'Accademia, where visitor takings amount to the desirable sum of ‚8 million a year. With money running short on the cultural heritage front, David becomes a highly desirable commodity and the centre of a tug-of-war between the Italian state, which wants the pickings, and the city of Florence.
The statue of David was sculpted by Michaelangelo between 1501 and 1504 and depicts the boy hero David about to do battle with the giant Goliath. It was commissioned originally as a symbol of the Florentine Republic. The city of Florence therefore claims that it inherited David from the former Republic. The Italian state cunningly affirms that since the commune of Florence was created only in the latter half of the 18 th century, its claims to David are not valid.Florence retaliates with the documented fact that in 1871, Palazzo Vecchio with all its contents was given over to the city as compensation for the transfer of the Italian capital from Florence to Rome. The lawyers representing the Italian state agree that this is the case, but that David was not listed in the inventory drawn up at the time. The situation is made more complicated by the fact that the Galleria dell'Accademia, the second most important museum in Florence after the Uffizi, is actually a state museum.
