Latest news with #SimoneVerde
Times
7 hours ago
- Times
Uffizi museum tears a strip off selfie takers after a painting is damaged
The director of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence has promised a crackdown on selfies after a tourist damaged an 18th-century painting while posing in front of it for a photograph. The visitor tore a hole in the bottom corner of the canvas, a portrait of Ferdinando de' Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany, painted in 1712, by Anton Domenico Gabbiani. The man was apparently trying to assume the same pose as the subject of the painting but stepped backwards and lost his balance. He leant against the canvas which was left with a tear at the level of the prince's right boot. The visitor was immediately identified by museum staff and reported to police for causing culpable damage. The painting was removed for repair, with experts concluding that the damage was relatively minor. The incident occurred on Saturday in the ground-floor rooms hosting the Florence and Europe: Arts of the 18th Century at the Uffizi exhibition, the first under the gallery's new director, Simone Verde. A trade union representing museum workers said the tourist had tripped on a low platform intended to keep visitors at an appropriate distance from the paintings. It had previously highlighted the risk to the museum authorities after another visitor had tripped but without causing any damage. 'Visitors are looking at the paintings, not at the ground. Those platforms are unsuitable and too dark,' said Silvia Barlacchi, a staff representative. Verde said: 'The problem of visitors coming to museums to make memes or take selfies for social media is rampant: we will set very precise limits, preventing behaviour that is not compatible with the sense of our institutions and respect for cultural heritage. The tourist, who was immediately identified, will be prosecuted.' The incident is the latest in a series of accidents caused by visitors behaving unwisely in Italian museums. In another episode captured on video, a man posed for a photograph pretending to sit on a fragile chair covered in Swarovski crystals in the Palazzo Maffei museum in Verona. The sculpture by the contemporary artist Nicola Bolla reproduces a famous wooden chair from a Vincent van Gogh painting, but is not intended for sitting on. Again the subject of the photo lost his balance and ended up sitting heavily on the chair, causing its partial collapse. The couple fled the museum without informing staff of the damage and as yet have not been identified. Earlier this year a 16th-century painting by the Renaissance artist Moretto was damaged after a museum visitor in Brescia tripped and fell against it, while three years ago an American tourist fell against a painting by the Baroque master Guido Reni at the Galleria Borghese in Rome. Visitors to the home of the Mona Lisa share the experience with hordes of smartphone-wielding peers, who are liable to impair viewing pleasure even when they don't trip and fall. The Louvre has announced plans to remedy the situation by creating a 3,000sq m exhibition space entirely dedicated to Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece. The extra space will reduce queues, jostling and the thicket of phone cameras obscuring the view when the Louvre renovation is completed in 2031.
Telegraph
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Uffizi director blasts selfie-taking tourists after 17th-century painting damaged
The director of Italy's Uffizi Galleries has sharply criticised social media-obsessed tourists after a visitor posing for a photograph tripped and gashed a 17th-century oil painting. The young Italian man asked his girlfriend to take a photo of him posing in front of the painting of a prince of the Medici family in the museum in Florence, Tuscany. He reportedly wanted to create an amusing image by mimicking the posture of Grand Prince Ferdinando de' Medici, the aristocrat in the painting. But as he stepped towards the artwork, he tripped over a foot-high barrier, put his hand out to steady himself and tore a gash in the canvas of the portrait. The episode, which happened on Saturday, was caught on a security camera. The man was identified and reported to police. He faces criminal prosecution and may have to pay for the cost of the painting to be repaired. The director of the Uffizi said it was the latest example of tourists using their visits to gather material for their social media feeds. 'A tourist who wanted to create some sort of meme in front of the painting, striking the same pose as the Medici prince, ripped the canvas of the artwork,' said Simone Verde. 'The problem of visitors coming to museums to create memes or take selfies for social media is now rampant. We put in place very precise rules to try to impede behaviour that is not compatible with respect for our cultural heritage.' Tourists are routinely caught damaging Italy's cultural heritage, from scratching their initials into the walls of the Colosseum in Rome to posing beside delicate statues and wading into Baroque fountains during the hot summer months. It is the second time this month that tourists in Italy have damaged a piece of art. A week ago, a middle-aged man was caught on CCTV footage sitting on and inadvertently squashing an ornate chair made out of thousands of Swarovski crystals in a museum in Verona. The footage showed the man joking around with his wife and sitting on the 'Van Gogh' chair, which promptly buckled. The couple made a hurried exit from the gallery. Museum curators appealed to visitors to 'respect art' after the incident. 'Sometimes we lose our brains to take a picture, and we don't think about the consequences,' said Vanessa Carlon, the museum director. 'Of course it was an accident, but these two people left without speaking to us – that isn't an accident. This is a nightmare for any museum. Art must be respected and loved, because it is very fragile.'
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Florence finally to be rid of notorious 60-metre crane after two decades
A giant crane that has blighted the skyline of Florence for almost 20 years is to finally be removed. The controversial structure, described as 'a metal monster', has stood in the centre of the Tuscan capital since 2006, when it was installed in a square opposite the Uffizi Galleries – famous for sublime artworks of the Italian renaissance – and tasked with doing the heavy lifting of materials during the initial phase of the museum's ongoing expansion. At more than 60 metres tall and visible from miles away, the crane was used less and less as the construction works dragged on, but there it remained despite numerous attempts to have it removed over its incongruity with the Florence landscape. Over time, the crane not only became a target of mockery, with an Instagram account set up for the purpose, but also the ultimate symbol of Italy's notoriously sluggish bureaucracy. The main things holding back the crane's removal have been the huge cost and the permissions required from the various levels of authority. But after some of the city's entrepreneurs responded to an appeal by the Uffizi's exasperated director, Simone Verde, and clubbed together to cover the bill, the dismantling of the crane will finally begin on 16 June, culminating in a celebration on the terrace of the galleries' Loggia dei Lanzi on 21 June. Such is the importance of the occasion, the event will also be attended by Italy's culture minister, Alessandro Giuli. 'Florence has been waiting for this moment for a long time,' said Verde. 'The metal monster is being removed and Florence's dazzling beauty can finally return intact and unviolated.' Verde added that the 'havoc' caused by the crane had been weighing on the city for far too long, and that he hoped the momentous occasion would mark the beginning of the end of 'this cursed construction site'. Part of the total €180,000 (£152,000) cost will also be used to replace the crane with a less invasive and more sustainable hoist, allowing the works to finally be completed without sullying the city's aesthetics. 'This operation confirms that good administration can triumph despite everything,' said Verde.
The Guardian
10-06-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Florence finally to be rid of notorious 60-metre crane after two decades
A giant crane that has blighted the skyline of Florence for almost 20 years is finally to be removed. The controversial structure, described as 'a metal monster', has stood in the centre of the Tuscan capital since 2006, when it was installed in a square opposite the Uffizi Galleries – famous for sublime artworks of the Italian renaissance – and tasked with doing the heavy lifting of materials during the initial phase of the museum's ongoing expansion. At more than 60 metres tall and visible from miles away, the crane was used less and less as the construction works dragged on, but there it remained despite numerous attempts to have it removed over its incongruity with the Florence landscape. Over time, the crane not only became a target of mockery, with an Instagram account set up for this purpose, but also the ultimate symbol of Italy's notoriously sluggish bureaucracy. The main thing holding back the crane's removal has been the huge cost but also the permissions required from the various levels of authority. But after some of the city's entrepreneurs responded to an appeal by the Uffizi's exasperated director, Simone Verde, and clubbed together to cover the bill, the dismantling of the crane will finally begin on 16 June, culminating in a celebration on the terrace of the galleries' Loggia dei Lanzi on 21 June. Such is the importance of the occasion, the event will also be attended by Italy's culture minister, Alessandro Giuli. 'Florence has been waiting for this moment for a long time,' said Verde. 'The metal monster is being removed and Florence's dazzling beauty can finally return intact and unviolated.' Verde added that the 'havoc' caused by the crane had been weighing on the city for far too long, and that he hoped the momentous occasion would mark the beginning of the end of 'this cursed construction site'. Part of the total €180,000 (£152,000) cost will also be used to replace the crane with a less invasive and more sustainable hoist, allowing the works to finally be completed without sullying the city's aesthetics. 'This operation confirms that good administration can triumph despite everything,' said Verde. 'It also testifies that the Uffizi has the capacity to be a model for cultural efficiency and a true flag for Italy in the world.'
