Act of Mimicking Sex on Bacchus Slammed

The photos above went viral on social media over the weekend, sending Italian authorities into a real tizzy. 

 

They are now trying to identify the young woman who was filmed kissing, humping and grinding against a statue of Bacchus, the Roman god of wine and sensuality, in Florence.

 

The statue – which stands on a street corner adjacent to the Ponte Vecchio bridge – is a replica of the original created in the 16th century by sculptor Giambologna, who was influenced by Hellenistic sculpture and the works of Michelangelo and who settled in Florence in 1552. 

 

His original Bacchus (right) is kept in the Bargello Museum in the center of Florence. 

 

The Florence mayor was offended that the individual "mimicked sex" while "presumably in a state of inebriation" according to a statement from Florence City Hall. 

 

According to CNN, authorities stated that "if identified, she would be fined and could be banned from the city for life, in line with an ordinance that prohibits any sort of abuse of cultural heritage in the country".

 

Seems to me though that Bacchus would have been delighted by the provocative prank. 

 

Misbehaving tourists have been plaguing Italian authorities for years now. Back in 2022, a man was charged after a Maserati was driven down Rome’s famed Spanish Steps. That same year, tourists were fined for surfing up Venice’s Grand Canal. 

 

In 2023, a group of young tourists posing for pictures to post on social media were accused of toppling a valuable statue at a villa in northern Italy. Back in Florence in the same year, a tourist was detained, accused of damaging a statue in the 16th-century Fountain of Neptune in the Piazza della Signoria.