The Italian Connection

A late summer day in Florence, Italy, and the Piazza del Duomo is heaving. Tourists in shorts and T-shirts swig mineral water and squint up at the green-and-rose facade. Contessa Simonetta Brandolini d’Adda walks briskly through the throngs in a navy suit and matching slingbacks. Because of a phone call she made a few minutes before, the door at the Accademia Gallery will open—despite the fact that the museum is officially closed for the day—allowing the Contessa and her guests a private view of Michelangelo’s David.