[wagglebee]

However, when these masterpieces decay beyond recognition, there will be nothing to view.

[GSlob]

True, but then again, Michelangelo himself once said that if a statue is made really well, it could even be thrown from a precipice without suffering too much damage. Even after discounting his words for artistic exaggeration, one has to admit that he knew about the sculpture way more than the rest of them put together.
When I was there a few years ago, they had complex laser systems mapping all his statues in three dimensions with great precision for archival preservation purposes. Us dirty tourists had to crawl around cumbersome laser consoles. They did not add to the pleasures of viewing.