The Uffizi Gallery in Florence, the most important and most visited art gallery in Italy, will soon have 24-hour armed guards who will monitor the entire perimeter of the complex, after two German tourists defaced the Vasariano Corridor, one of the great treasures of that town in northern Italy, as announced by the Ministry of Culture.
Hours after the vandalism was discovered, the two tourists were arrested, accused of being the perpetrators after being identified by the Carabinieri when reviewing the urban surveillance cameras.
“After yesterday’s very serious act against the Vasariano Corridor and the identification of the alleged perpetrators of the act, thanks, the director of the Uffizi has just confirmed to me that this morning the cleaning and restoration work on the affected surfaces has begun,” said the minister. of Culture, Gennaro Sangiuliano.
The Vasariano Corridor, which owes its name to the architect who designed it, Giorgio Vasari, was built by order of the Medici family in 1565 and runs for a kilometer and a half along the upper part of the Ponte Vecchio, for the princes to follow. walked without mixing with the people.
This act of vandalism in Florence occurs after several similar ones that occurred this summer, the last of which were the spray-painted inscriptions that appeared a few days ago in the highest part of the Vittorio Emmanuel Gallery, located in the central square of the Cathedral. from Milan.
In addition, last July several tourists wrote on the walls of the Colosseum, which generated widespread social condemnation, as well as from the Italian Government, which has brought a bill to Parliament that establishes up to a 60,000-euro fine for the perpetrators of acts of vandalism. , in addition to criminal sanctions.
The Uffizi Gallery in Florence is one of the most important museums in the world and in 2022 it recorded a record collection, with more than 35 million euros after receiving 4 million visitors, double that of 2021.
