onsider the scene as the grandees of the Royal Academy meet this week. It might be a painting by Zoffany or Reynolds. Academicians debating, ill-concealed anger, rhetorical gesticulations, some resting their hands on their chins in sullen resignation. One raises his arm heavenward as he suggests the impossible: that they sell one of their artworks to help keep jobs at the institution. And not any old artwork. A sculpture by one of the greatest artists, Michelangelo.
I don’t want anyone to lose their job in these hard times – God knows, I’ve lost enough work myself over the last few months through cancelled teaching and lectures – but that’s only one reason why I’m less disturbed by the sale of the sculpture than others.
It “crosses a line” according to The Telegraph’s Alistair Sooke. It’s a “cruel dilemma” for Vanessa Thorpe in The Observer. But as always, whatever the Academy decides, the issue is much more intricate than any of these opinations suggest.
