Cecilie Hollberg, director of the Galleria dell’Accademia, tells us about herself with humour and passion

His favourite secret Florence

Since 2015 she has been the custodian of David and the treasures of the Accademia: we are talking about Cecilie Hollberg. Born in Lower Saxony, she completed her university studies in History and Political Science, and Italian and German Literature and Language in Rome – where her love affair with Italy probably began – Munich and Gottingen. A few words about the Museum of which she is director: the Galleria dell’Accademia was established in 1784, when Pietro Leopoldo, Grand-Duke of Tuscany, reorganized the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno founded in 1563 by Cosimo I de’Medici. The high point in the museum’s history was the transfer of Michelangelo’s David from Piazza della Signoria in 1873. From 2021 the Galleria will a modern museum, where David continues to be the undisputed star. People come from all over the world to see our magnificent giant “in person”. As the Director tells us, Michelangelo’s masterpiece is subject to systematic monitoring that starts from the face and continues down over the entire marble surface. David may be the star, but is not the only masterpiece – the Galleria houses Lorenzo Bartolini’s plaster casts, the Grand Dukes’ musical instruments and works by Bronzino, Perugino, Allori, Giambologna and many others.  This priceless collection has recently undergone digital acquisition in ultra-high definition format, a project wholeheartedly supported by the Director, to allow the works to be enjoyed also from a distance.   In these pages, we asked Cecilie to tell us about her work and her adopted city.