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2015 ‫מועד אפריל‬ - 42 - ‫ פרק שני‬- ‫ אנגלית‬

Text II (Questions 18-22)

(1) The David, Michelangelo's marble vision of male beauty, is now five hundred years
old. Its restoration is currently underway at the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence,
despite vociferous objections from critics who fear that cleaning the masterpiece will
ruin it.

(5) Agnese Parronchi, an internationally respected restorer, was originally hired to do

the job. Parronchi planned to use chamois leather cloth, soft brushes, and erasers to
remove the centuries of dust and grime coating the pitted surface of the David.
However, her plan was vetoed by the museum director and other leading figures in
Italy's fiercely competitive art restoration circles. They argued that Parronchi's method
(10) was likely to rub the dirt deeper into the marble, and proposed instead that a mud pack
made of clay and cellulose be applied to the stone. Fearing that this method would
damage the sculpture, Parronchi resigned from the project rather than obey orders that
she considered ill advised.

Like Parronchi, art critic James Beck, a professor at Columbia University,
(15) objected to the mud pack proposal. Beck had already criticized the restoration of
another Michelangelo masterpiece, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, maintaining that
the work done on it had been too drastic. Beck demanded that an independent
committee be convened to decide if and how the David should be restored. In response,
museum officials in Florence accused Beck of "anti-restoration terrorism", saying that
(20) the David is not made of candy that melts when it is touched.

Despite the controversy, the restoration of the David is now being carried out by
Cinzia Parnigoni, a veteran of Renaissance art restoration. Her previous projects
included the cleaning of Michelangelo's Prisoners – four unfinished sculptures also
housed at the Galleria dell'Accademia. She is cleaning the sculpture using rice paper,

(25) distilled water, and a mud pack. Parnigoni hopes to make the David more presentable
as he begins his sixth century.

Questions

18. Which of the following is not mentioned in the text as something to be used in the

cleaning of the David?

(1) leather cloth
(2) rice paper
(3) soap and water
(4) erasers

)‫© כל הזכויות שמורות למרכז ארצי לבחינות ולהערכה (ע"ר‬

.‫ בלא אישור בכתב מהמרכז הארצי לבחינות ולהערכה‬- ‫ כולה או חלקים ממנה‬- ‫ או ללמדה‬,‫אין להעתיק או להפיץ בחינה זו או קטעים ממנה בכל צורה ובכל אמצעי‬