Mick Jagger Meets Michelangelo’s David

Mick Jagger was staying in a five star Florence hotel before the Rolling Stones concert in Lucca and requested to see the David.  His wish was granted, and Accademia director Cecilie Hollberg personally conducted a one-man tour.

The visit lasted an hour, and according to Hollberg, in addition to David, Jagger particularly admired Michelangelo’s Prisoners which line the gallery leading to the David in addition to a section of a detached fresco by Giotto originally in the Badia Fiorentina; the life-size plaster casts that 19th century Tuscan sculptor Lorenzo Bartolini made in preparation for his statues; and the Adimari cassone, the front panel of a wedding chest depicting a Renaissance marriage (1450).

Jagger especially appreciated the Accademia’s collection of 300 antique musical instruments, including a Stradivarius violin, originally belonging to the Medici and Lorraine ruling families from the 17th to the early 19th centuries.  He wanted to know if and how each could be played.

The Accademia director described the singer as “charming, extremely intelligent and quiet — “an acute observer. At the end of his visit he begged pardon for having talked so little…Jagger did not behavior like a rock star, and if he is not one, who is?,” concluded Hollberg.

To read more and to see a photo gallery, visit Florence’s La Repubblica news site.