‘Dust is everywhere’: rare glimpse of how Michelangelo’s David is kept clean

Eleonora Pucci cleaning Michelangelo's statue of David at the Accademia Gallery in Florence. Photograph: Tiziana Fabi/AFP/Getty Images

Michelangelo’s David is recognised as one of the most sublime works in the history of sculpture, but according to the director of Florence’s Accademia Gallery, dusting it is much like cleaning a bathroom.

“You know when you clean a bathroom, you clean and clean and think you’ve done a great job but then you spot some dust and wonder ‘where did that come from?’,” Cecilie Hollberg said on Monday. “This is what it’s like. Dust is everywhere.”