The coronavirus dilemmas: sell a Michelangelo marble or lay off 150 workers?

• Rome: Michelangelo's secret room

he coronavirus crisis has put London's Royal Academy at

in its 250-year history.

The old institution announced last week its plans to lay off 40% of its workforce (150 workers) and reduce annual costs by nine million euros.

However, a group of academics has proposed an unsuspected solution that this week will be debated in the council: the sale of the

, the round marble sculpture made by Michelangelo in 1504 and considered one of the jewels of his collection.

"The

worth so much that it could not only prevent layoffs, but also get the Royal Academy (RA) out of the financial mess it has gotten into,"

one academic who chose not to reveal his name

told

.

According to estimates by

in 2017, the Miguel Angel piece could reach a value of 110 million euros.

A spokeswoman for the RA has stated that the institution "has no intention" of selling pieces from its collection.

"Our duty is to preserve it so that future generations can enjoy it."

The sale of the Tondo Taddei apparently faces the opposition of the president of the Royal Academy, the painter Rebecca Salter,

at such a possibility, according to

internal sources of the institution

admit to

.

Salter initially has academics on his side, although the financial difficulties that the institution is facing (forced to close for four months due to the pandemic) have caused an internal debate that spreads to other museums,

British

to cultural institutions.

The Tondo Taddei is a bas-relief of 109 centimeters in diameter in which the Virgin with the child and with Saint John can be seen.

It is considered one of the small masterpieces of Michelangelo, who

in the early 16th century, while completing his David.

Landscaper Jonhn Constable once praised the

as "one of the most beautiful works of art in existence."

The sculpture was donated to the Royal Academy after the death of its last owner, Lady Margaret Beaumont, and has served as an inspiration to hundreds of students ever since.

The bas-relief of Michelangelo is also a rarity in the RA collection, and there have been art experts who consider that its appropriate place would be the

.

The Royal Academy has traditionally bridged the great masters of the past and present.

Jeff Koons, Ai Weiwei, and Olafur Eliasson, among others, are honorary scholars.

Two years ago, on the occasion of its 250th anniversary, the institution underwent a 70 million euro facelift, with a luminous interior renovation signed by the architect

, which connected its two buildings: Burlington Gardens and Burlington House.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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