FLORENCE, ITALY – The city of Florence, Italy, blasts Michelangelo’s David holding rifle image. The comments come after the the image by Illinois-based ArmaLite, which uses Michelangelo’s statue to promote the rifle with the tagline “A work of art”.
Florence superintendent for history and fine arts, Cristina Acidini, condemned the company’s use of the image and added: “To use a work of art from any of the Florence museums for promotional purposes, it is necessary to obtain an evaluation of how the image may be used. No one ever agreed to that.”
Even Angelo Tartuferi, the director of the Accademia, said: “The law says that the aesthetic value of the work cannot be distorted”.
Unveiled by Michelangelo in Florence in 1504, it has been housed in the city’s Accademia Gallery, in Florence, since 1873 and draws millions of tourists from around the world.
Italy’s Culture Minister Dario Franceschini said the ad on the bolt-action AR-50A1 is offensive: “The image of David, armed, offends and infringes the law. We will take action against the American company so that it immediately withdraws its (advertising) campaign,” Dario Franceschini tweeted.
Marco Bastiani is the founder of Florence Daily News, launched in 2011. He has worked as a journalist since 1998, and was a political editor at Il Giornale della Toscana. He later held senior roles in communications for public and private institutions. He lives in Florence, loves the sea and Greece, and has two children.
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