Should the Royal Academy sell its Michelangelo to stay afloat?

Kevin Childs argues that it would be shortsighted because the Academy is the sum of its collections. But if it decides to keep it could it please be given a more fitting display

Michelangelo's Taddei Tondo, an enigma that is 'unnoticed and unloved' (Dvdbramhall)

Consider 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.