A tourist who allegedly climbed a 16th-century statue of Neptune and touched its genitals during a hen-do prank has been arrested in Florence.
The 28-year-old woman, whose nationality has not been disclosed, is accused of causing thousands of euros in damage to the Biancone fountain in Piazza della Signoria.
The incident occurred on Saturday afternoon. Italian police removed the foreigner after they spotted her climbing the monument.
She told them her friends had dared her to touch the Roman god’s genitals for a pre-wedding challenge, according to a statement from the city council.
The statue, by the sculptor Bartolomeo Ammannati, was commissioned in 1559. Its basin encloses horses that pull a shell-shaped chariot at the base of the figure of Neptune.
The city council said that the stunt had caused ‘small but significant damage to both the hooves of the horses she had ridden and to a frieze she had held onto to prevent slipping.’
The woman has been charged with defacing an artistic and architectural monument, while officials have put the cost of the damage at 5,000 euros, or £4,000.
It is not the first time a tourist has tried to climb the iconic statue.
CCTV cameras were introduced in 2005 after a tourist mounted Neptune, breaking one of its hands and damaging the chariot.
The fountain of Neptune in Piazza della Signoria, Florence. A woman has been arrested for climbing the statue and touching the Roman god’s genitals
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In 2023, a German tourist caused significant damage while trying to climb the fountain to take a selfie.
Monuments across Italy have also been targeted by disrespectful tourists and activists.
In 2023, a video of a tourist carving his and his girlfriend’s initials into the Colosseum in Rome outraged Italians
Separately, the Bernini fountain in the Italian capital was also trashed in 2015 by Dutch football fans, who left empty beer bottles floating in its water.
In July 2022, Italian environmental activists glued their hands to the glass protecting Sandro Botticelli’s iconic painting ‘Spring’ in the Uffizi Galleries in Florence, police said.
The museum said thanks to the glass, which was installed as a precaution several years ago, the masterpiece was unharmed.
In 2024, Italy approved a law imposing stiff, five-figure fines on vandals who damage monuments or other cultural sites, to help pay for the repairs and clean-up.
Italy’s Culture Minister at the time, Gennaro Sangiuliano, said: ‘The attacks on monuments and artistic sites produce economic damage to all.
‘To clean it up, the intervention of highly specialised personnel and the use of very costly machines are needed,’ he said.
‘Whoever carries out these acts must also assume the financial responsibility.’
