In yet anther incident damaging Italy’s heritage this year, a German tourist looking to take a picture with the God of Seas, Neptune, climbed into a 16th century fountain in Florece, breaking chunks of marble off in his quest.
The incident took place in the early hours of 4 September. The 22-year-old can be seen on CCTV footage climbing into the Fountain of Neptune and onto the statues, waiting a few seconds for the picture to be taken, then climbing back out. In this process, the tourist allegedly broke off a piece of marble from the God’s chariot and damaged the hoof of one of the horses.
The imbecile entered by passing in front of the floodlights that illuminate the fountain, creating interference with the sensors.
Tommaso Muccini, Architect of Fine Arts of Palazzo Vecchio, told La Nazione
The fountain is equipped with security sensors that alert the police when triggered. However, because the man entered the fountain in front of the floodings that illuminate the monument, the security system was only activated when he was going out of the fountain, Tommaso Muccini, architect of Fine Arts of Palazzo Vecchio, who is responsible for the maintenance of monuments in Florece, explained in an interview with La Nazione.
The mayor of Florence, Dario Nardella, revealed in a post on X / Twitter, that thanks to the security cameras, the person has been identified and will pay a “hefty fine”. “There is no justification for the vandalism of cultural heritage”, Nardella added.
While the amount of the fine has not been disclosed, the damages are estimated at €5,000. The repairs will be conducted in October, when the annual maintenance of the fountain is already scheduled, Muccini revealed. The process costs about “€35,000 and includes hydraulic and electrical overhaul for water recycling, cleaning of marble and bronze from organic patinas, damage from pigeons and coins”.
During the October intervention, Muccini has indicated the team will look into the possibility of upgrading the security system’s sensors. This however is challenging since many false alarms are caused by pigeons or even camera flashes. In any case Muccini explained that setting up additional safety elements, like high railings, is out of the question “because it would damage the visibility of the monument, a disturbing element for anyone looking at the fountain”.
The fountain was commissioned by Cosimo I de’ Medici in 1559 to celebrate the marriage of Francesco de’ Medici I to Grand Duchess Joanna of Austria. Designed by Baccio Bandinelli and created by Bartolomeo Ammannati, it was completed in 1574 and has sustained repeated damage from vandalism over the years. In 2005, when someone else attempted to climb the sculpture, one of Neptune’s hands broke off, his trident was also broken and the chariot sustained some damage. In 2018, the fountain went through a complete restoration to bring the monument to its former glory.
Less than two weeks before this, the city’s 460-year-old Vasari Corridor was graffitied with a football club reference. In other parts of the country, several instances of people carving their names on the walls of Rome’s Colosseum have been reported, while another tourist breached the 18th century Trevi Fountain to fill her water bottle. In Sardinia, tourists are creating just as much damage by stealing sand and pebble from the island’s white beaches, which greatly accelerates their erosion.
