Fed up with new cases of vandalism on Italy’s preserved monuments, buildings and works of art, said Italian Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano proposed a new law at a Cabinet meeting yesterday that would impose fines ranging from €10,000 (~$11,000) to €60,000 (~$66,000) on those liable for damage in the future.
The law, which deals with the “destruction, dispersion, deterioration, disfiguration, defilement and illicit use” of cultural heritage, aims to distribute fines for the repair, restoration and cleaning of vandalized sites and objects . The Council of Ministers unanimously approved the bill on Tuesday (April 11th), making its passage into Italian law in parliament extremely likely under the far-right government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Sangiuliano said it cost the Italian government more than €40,000 (~$44,000) to restore the facade of Palazzo Madama (the Senate) after four members of the Italian climate emergency group Ultima Generazione sprayed gallons of neon orange paint on it in early January of this year. “Cleaning requires the intervention of highly specialized personnel and the use of very expensive machinery,” Sangiuliano said during the council of ministers.
“Attacks on monuments and artistic sites cause economic damage to the community,” Sangiuliano said. “Whoever commits these acts must also bear financial responsibility.”
In an interview with HyperallergicSandro, 39 (who preferred not to share his surname), a member of Ultima Generazione, laughed at Sangiuliano’s statement regarding the restoration expenses of the Palazzo Madama, saying the organization consults materials specialists” to ensure that we do no permanent damage.
“I’d really like to see the details behind that figure,” Sandro added, citing that cleaning up a previous spray-paint demonstration at the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence took only a pittance. 5,000 liters of water for cleaning – a literal drop in the bucket when reports indicate that Italy loses more than 40% of its filtered water due to leaky pipes amid an ongoing drought.
Sandro said Hyperallergic that Ultima Generazione paid fines for its protests with temporary ramifications, also drawing attention to the irony regarding the increase in fines imposed on Italian farmers in Lombardy caught stealing public water.
This bill comes just a week after three affiliate members of Ultima Generazione met at the Spanish Steps in Rome to dye water black in the famous Barcaccia fountain by Pietro Bernini. Roman Mayor Roberto Gualtieri denounced the group’s protest, tweet that they had “risked spoiling it [the fountain]with the black liquid, and that “the monuments must be respected because they belong to everyone”.
“Speaking of the decree, it wasn’t really unexpected,” Sandro continued. “The government started to cause the climate crisis with this crackdown. That’s what they’ve chosen to do, at least right now, to distract from the real problem.
When asked if Ultima Generazione plans to recalibrate its approach to climate emergency protests, Sandro replied Hyperallergic that “we will keep [it] up, of course,” and refers to a future event Earth Day (April 22), inviting the masses to “party like it’s the end of the world.”
