Expo Dubai: a conversation between art and technology represents a 3D copy of David by Michelangelo

FLORENCE, ITALY – A 3D copy of David created by Michelangelo forms the heart of the Italy Pavilion as the Expo 2020 Dubai was revealed on April 27 in a brief ceremony with Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, Italy Commissioner Paolo Glisenti, Fincantieri President Giampiero Massolo, Florence Mayor Dario Nardella and Emirati authorities.

The Dubai Expo will be the first universal exhibition in ME.NA.SA. (Middle East, North Africa, South Asia). The first expo in the Arab world will take place between October 1st to March 31st 2022.

After the ceremony, there was a presentation of the roof of the Pavilion, three inverted ships in green, white, and red that give life to the largest flag made in the history of Italy . Then there was the presentation of the twin of Michelangelo’s David, a project led by the Commissariat for Italy’s participation in Expo 2020 Dubai, by the Museum of Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence and by the Italian Ministry of Culture in collaboration with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of the University of Florence.

“Looking at this reproduction of Michelangelo, millions of people who will pass through this pavilion will want to visit Italy, to come or to return to Italy, and this will help us in post-pandemic recovery to strengthen tourist traffic,” Di Maio said , highlighting the concentration of “art and history, but also science and technology” in the twin of David.

“The David by Michelangelo – said the mayor of Florence during his speech – is a work that has surpassed all the others, as Vasari wrote: the secret is the inner light, the secret of the soul, a spiritual beauty that covers the athletic body that transcends the human and that shines also in this ‘twin’. He wanted to eliminate all the symbols of violence and struggle from that statue. Michelangelo did not like conflicts, he could not bear war, the fratricidal struggle between peoples. He only thought in terms of beauty and divine perfection. In man and woman he saw the reflection of a superior beauty.A humanity that overcomes negative forces, instincts, and makes itself an instrument of good. For Michelangelo the purpose of art was to elevate thoughts and actions towards moral and spiritual perfection. His hand sculpted marble gives life to divine images, to inspire people to drive towards good and beauty. That’s why we still admire this young man, so proud and so full of athletic grace. Through him we recognize, as in a mirror, the best part of us, the superior nature of humanity. That which is at the service of beauty and good, which acts at the service of the dignity of men and women around the world – concluded Nardella -. David’s gaze truly reflects his inner energy, a spiritual force. The ancients knew that the soul is in the heart, and that it speaks through the eyes. In those eyes, the beautiful soul of David shines. And this is what is attractive. An energy that comes from beauty and pushes towards good. A beauty that unites people and does not divide nations”.