A curtain of Air for the statue of David

Every year millions of people visit works of art in museums around the world. Ironically, the museum visitors who most appreciate the cultural heritage found in museums and galleries are often the primary source of pollutants to the artwork on display. Air curtains are a promising method for protecting works of art in such situations. They have no harmful impact on the art objects and do not restrict the visibility to the crowd. CFD is a useful tool for the design of air curtains because it gives coherent answers within a timeframe shorter than that needed for lab or field tests. This is one of the principal reasons that CFD is such an advantageous instrument during the design phase of any project. It allows possible solutions to be studied for different initial configurations, geometries, and boundary conditions. As an example, consider the interior space of the Galleria dell’ Accademia in Florence. The principal nave hosts Michelangelo’s David along with other paintings and sculpture, such as the Pieta Palestrina and Prigioni. Two lateral rooms house the work of Florentine painters.