Several activists against climate change today threw a black liquid into the water of the monumental Trevi Fountain in Rome, one of the symbols of the city, and unfurled a banner demanding to stop investing in fossil fuels.
The liquid thrown into the water of this monument is presumably liquid carbon, the same one that was used in other similar actions such as the fountain of the barcaccia of the Roman Plaza de España or that of the four rivers by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in Piazza Navona.
A dozen young people entered the water of the jewel of the Baroque to warn that “our country is dying” because of the climate crisis and pointed out as one of its consequences the floods in Emilia-Romagna, in northern Italy, which have caused 14 dead and 36,600 displaced.
The Police went to the place to arrest them, entering the water to remove them one by one, while the tourists who visited the monument reacted with insults and boos to their action.
The mayor of RomeRoberto Gualtieri, asked on his social networks to put an end to “these absurd attacks on our artistic heritage” such as the mythical Fontana, which in 2015 saw its restoration and cleaning completed after a year and a half of work.
“Today the Fontana di Trevi. Your recovery will be expensive and complex and we hope there will be no permanent damage. I invite the activists to measure themselves on a debate ground without putting the monuments at risk,” requested the councilor.
The group “Last Generation” (Last Generation) has claimed responsibility for the action on his Instagram profile and has demanded to “block public subsidies for fossil fuels and pay attention to the climate collapse to which we are headed.”
It is not the first time that these activists have attacked heritage with actions like these.
On April 1, they poured black dye into the historic fountain of the barcaccia from the Plaza España Romebuilt between 1626 and 1629. Before that, on March 17, two other young men stained the Palazzo Vecchio of Florenceseat of the town hall, and were arrested by the mayor himself, Dario Nardella.
--Last November soup was thrown into a box of Van Gogh from a temporary exhibition in Rome and stained with paint the “The Finger” of Maurizio Cattelan in front of the Milan Stock Exchange, as well as the equestrian sculpture of Vittorio Emanuele II in front of the Duomo or cathedral of that city.
Two activists are on trial in the vatican court for damaging the base of this Laocoon sculpture with glue in a protest.
The Italian Government has approved a bill that will punish the perpetrators of acts of vandalism against works of art, monuments or heritage with fines of up to 60,000 euros or criminal sanctions.
The Trevi Fountain in Rome was not damaged by the protest of activists
the emblematic Fontana di Trevi Rome has not suffered damage after a group of activists against climate change dumped a black dye into its waters, the mayor of the capital, Roberto Gualtieri, explained today when visiting the monument.
The black, carbon-based liquid poured into the water ended up depositing on the fountain’s waterproof base, preventing it from staining the marble.
“According to a first verification, there is no permanent damage because the black paint ended up on the waterproofed material and not on the marble, so it should be possible to clean it. The problem is when it gets to the marble, which is porous,” the councilor told the media. .
Gualtieri celebrated that thanks to the “quick” action of the police, the activists were only able to pour out two of the “numerous” cans of dye they carried with them.
(EFE)
