‘David’ cleaning will resume

Brushing off critics who fear the ruin of a Michelangelo masterpiece, restorers are forging ahead with the cleaning of “David,” insisting one of the world’s most-admired statues needs to be more presentable for its 500th birthday next year.

At a news conference in Florence, Italy, on Monday in front of Michelangelo’s marble vision of naked male beauty, experts defended their decision to resume the project, which was interrupted when an internationally respected restorer quit rather than follow orders to use a cleaning method she feared could harm the sculpture.

“We’re using the most harmless substance possible, water,” said Antonio Paolucci, a former culture minister who is in charge of museums in Florence.