07 September 2023 , 14:11
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A man has been caught breaking off a chunk of a statue in the latest instance of historical treasures being damaged by tourists.
In the early hours of Monday a visitor was caught climbing onto the Fountain of Neptune in Florence, Italy to pose for a picture, it was claimed. He then broke off a piece of marble from Neptune’s chariot, as well as damaging the hoof of one of the sculpture’s horses, it is alleged.
After the incident was caught on CCTV, the unnamed man was tracked down and issued with a hefty fine by the authorities. Mayor of Florence Dario Nardella posted footage and a picture of the Berlin man posing next to the Renaissance monument on social media.
He wrote: “This tourist thought it would be a good idea to climb on to Neptune for a selfie. Thanks to the council’s security cameras, he was identified and will pay a heavy fine. There is no justification for the vandalism of cultural heritage.”
Tommaso Muccini, an architect responsible for keeping Florence's statues in good order, said the man was an “imbecile”. He told the Italian newspaper La Nazione that his jumping down from the statue had prompted a security alarm to go off.
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The damage to the statue - which dates back to 1559 and was fully restored in 2018 - will be repaired next month. Earlier this summer a group of tourists were also branded "imbeciles" for damaging a rocky humanoid in Italy by clambering up and hugging the £172,000 piece of artwork.
The group of visitors came under fire for wrecking the stone figurine during what appeared to be a display of high jinks in Viggiu, in the northern Italian region of Lombardy. Two of the 17 pals were caught on CCTV scaling the 150-year-old artwork.
The German man was caught on CCTVThey were seen wrapping their arms around the "Domina" sculpture while another pushed it with a stick. Sadly their roughhousing was too much for the rocky likeness, which crashed to the ground.
The property’s manager, Bruno Golferini, was left to call the police and report the group. He told an Italian news station: “When we realised, it was too late. The boys did not respect the ban on entering the fountain and were filmed by video surveillance cameras while two of them embraced the statue, dropping it and destroying it, while four of their comrades shot videos with their cell phones.”
The manager said the statue would be hard to repair due to additional damage caused to the fountain’s tiles. The damaged "Domina" statue is by the artist Enrico Butti and is valued at £173,000.
The €200,000 statue was destroyed (CTV News/Youtube)
The statue was destroyed earlier this summer (CTV News/Youtube)Matteo Salvini, Italy’s deputy prime minister, weighed in on the issue, accusing the group if being “imbeciles” instead of “influencers”. Francesca Caruso, culture councillor for the Lombardy region, said: “Those who damage the artistic and cultural heritage must pay a steep price.”
In July, a British tourist was filmed carving his name in the Colosseum. The man later allegedly claimed he did not realise how old the monument was in a letter of apology to Rome's mayor, in which he said he had not understood "the seriousness of the deed".
He is accused of etching "Ivan + Hayley 23" - his and his girlfriend's names - on the 2,000-year-old amphitheatre with a key. His apparent actions were filmed by a bystander in June and sparked widespread condemnation.