A fight to protect the dignity of Michelangelo's David raises questions about freedom of expression

FLORENCE, Italy — Michelangelo’s David has been a towering figure in Italian culture since its completion in 1504.

The decisions challenge a widely held practice that intellectual property rights are protected for a specified period before entering the public domain — the artist's lifetime plus 70 years, according to the Berne Convention signed by more than 180 countries including Italy. Elsewhere in Europe, Greece has a similar law, adopted in 2020, which requires a permit to use images of historic sites or artifacts for commercial use, and forbids the use of images that “alter” or “offend” the monuments in any way.

Hollberg won her first case against ticket scalpers using David’s image to sell marked-up entrance packages outside the Accademia’s doors. She also has targeted GQ Italia for imposing a model’s face on David’s body, and luxury fashion brand Longchamp’s cheeky Florence edition of its trademark “Le Pliage” bag featuring David’s more intimate details.

Based on Hollberg’s success and fortified by improved search engine technology, the private entity that is custodian of Florence’s landmark Cathedral has started going after commercial enterprises using the famed dome for unauthorized, and sometimes denigrating, purposes — including men’s and women’s underwear.

The jurisprudence is still being tested. A court in Venice ordered Germany’s Ravensburger jigsaw puzzle maker to stop using the image of “Vitruvian Man” in the first case to involve a company outside Italy. The ruling implicitly rejected Ravensburger’s argument that the law was incompatible with the EU directive on copyright, lawyers said.

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