On March 6th, the replica David in Florence’s Piazza della Signoria was covered with a black cloth in a symbolic gesture in support of Ukraine. On March 11th, a serial vandal set light to the cloth damaging the statue beneath.
The statue stands in front of the Palazzo Vecchio in Piazza della Signoria, Florence. The city’s mayor had it covered with a black cloth on the anniversary of Michelangelo’s birthday in symbolic support of Ukraine. Florence is one of the twin cities of Kyiv.
Vaclav Pisvejc set fire to the cloth on Friday, with technicians inspecting the damage on March 12. They discovered extensive blackening on the statue which will require specific solvents to clean it. The works will last a week.
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Guards in the square arrested Pisvejc for arson. Valcav Pisvejc committed other acts of vandalism in Florence. He painted Francesco Vezzoli‘s lion in piazza della Signoria in blue and yellow on March 8. He also wrote Putin on the central strip of a ‘No entry’ road sign in via della Vigna Nuova.
In 2018, the vandal smashed a picture over the artist Marina Abramović at Palazzo Strozzi.
The statue
In 1910, Luigi Arrighetti made the replica David. It stands in the original position in the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, Italy. The original sculpture moved indoors in 1873 to the Accademia Gallery.
Full restoration of the statue had already been planned with funding from the Ferragamo maison through the art bonus.
