Florence, serial provocateur climbs Bandinelli's Hercules naked. Arrested

In Florence diversion yesterday for tourists in Piazza della Signoria who saw a completely naked man climb Baccio Bandinelli’sHercules and Cacus , one of the city’s most famous sculptural groups located right in front of Palazzo Vecchio. The author of the gesture is 56-year-old Vaclav Pisvejc, a serial provocateur who, in 2018, became notorious in the news for hitting Marina Abramovic in the head with a painting. Pisvejc, a citizen of the Czech Republic and self-styled artist, is known for his peculiar performances, if you want to call them that: in 2018 he daubed Urs Fischer’s work Big Clay , in 2019 he perilously poised himself on the terrace of the Uffizi in order to “get famous” and meet with director Eike Schmidt, in 2022 he had set fire to the banner with which Dario Nardella had “mourned” the nineteenth-century copy of Michelangelo’s David in Piazza della Signoria procuring 15. 000 euros in damage to the work and getting a six-month prison sentence, and earlier this year he daubed Francesco Vezzoli’s lion in Piazza della Signoria.

This time Pisvejc wanted to stage a demonstration act. With the words “Censored” painted on his body, traversing from his left shoulder to his right foot, he climbed onto the base of the statue, forcing traffic police, carabinieri and firefighters to take him down, after concealing his nudity with a blanket. Pisvejc was then arrested on charges of resisting a public official. Also charged were crimes of defacing cultural property and indecent exposure.

A survey was subsequently carried out by the City of Florence’s Fine Arts technicians to see if the act had damaged the recently restored monument. The survey revealed some damage to the marble of the base and the statue and the detachment of the stucco used during the restoration to seal some cracks. The technicians pointed out the need to repeat some treatments carried out during the restoration to ensure the preservation of the monument.

Mayor Dario Nardella commented, “Once again, the usual serial wrecker and defiler, already known to the police, has seen fit to perform again in Piazza Signoria by damaging the statue of Hercules and Cacus and committing a very serious act. I thank the Municipal Police and Carabinieri for their immediate intervention.”

Florence, serial provocateur climbs Bandinelli's Hercules naked. Arrested

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