A young woman who was caught on camera posing suggestively on a statue of Bacchus in Florence earlier this month may be banned from the city for life if Italian authorities are successful in their search to identify the presumed tourist.
Blurry photos of the woman portraying lewd acts on the sculpture went viral last week after they were shared to a Florence Facebook group, outraging social media users (save for one former culture minister, who initially described the incident as “a loving exaltation” on X). City officials have said that if the subject is identified, they will be fined and potentially banished from the municipality for cultural heritage abuse.
The statue at the center of the images is a bronze replica of a 16th-century sculpture by Italian Renaissance artist Giambologna. Depicting Bacchus, the Roman god of agriculture, wine, and fertility, the sculpture is located on the exterior of a restored Medieval tower near the Ponte Vecchio bridge in the city center. The original work is held in Florence’s Bargello Museum.
In January, Italian officials passed a law to raise fines for damage and vandalism to Italy’s cultural heritage sites and structures. The ordinance imposes fines ranging from €10,000 (~$11,000) to €60,000 (~$66,000) for those in violation of “destruction, dispersion, deterioration, disfigurement, soiling, and illicit use” of the country’s historic monuments, buildings, and artworks. Earlier this summer, Italian authorities detained a tourist caught carving his initials onto the wall of a historic house in Pompeii.
Hyperallergic has contacted the Italian Ministry of Culture for comment.