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Angela Giuffrida “ Tourist charged with damaging historic Florentine fountain in pre-wedding prank” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/22/tourist-charged-with-damaging-historic-florence-fountain-pre-wedding-prank

伊太利のフィレンツェのシニョリーア広場（Piazza della Signoria）*1にあるネプチューン像に攀じ登り、損傷を与えたとして、旅行者である28歳の女性が逮捕された。彼女の国籍などは明らかにされていない。彼女はネプチューンの金玉を触ろうとしたらしい。フィレンツェ市当局によれば、彼女の暴挙によって齎された損害は5,000ユーロだという。

Created by the sculptor Bartolomeo Ammannati*2, it was commissioned by Cosimo I de’ Medici in 1559 to celebrate the marriage of his son, Francesco I de’ Medici, to grand duchess Joanna of Austria. The basin encloses horses that pull a shell-shaped chariot at the base of a statue depicting Neptune, the Roman god of the sea.

こうした事件は初めてではない；

It is not the first time a tourist has tried to mount Neptune. CCTV cameras were introduced in 2005 after a visitor climbed the statue, breaking one of its hands and damaging the chariot. In 2023, a German tourist caused significant damage trying to climb the monument to take a selfie; that same summer, a young couple tried to scale a copy of Michelangelo’s David in Piazzale Michelangelo*3.
Despite stricter controls around Florence’s landmarks, rarely a summer goes by without similar incidents. According to Giorgio Caselli, who manages the city council’s fine arts office, it has become increasingly trendy for visitors to climb monuments for a “challenge”.
In 2024, a teenager hid in the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore*4 overnight before climbing up to its cupola for a selfie. Wearing a black hoodie, jeans and trainers, the teenager filmed himself walking up an inside stairwell of the world heritage site before reaching the dome level, stepping on to a small platform outside and taking a picture of himself and posting it on Instagram*5.

最初、金玉を触ると何かいいことがあるのかなと思ったけれど*6、「チャレンジ」のためか。ドゥーモの件では、インスタグラムも絡んでいる。これは、日本でかつて流行った「バカッター」*7と似たようなものだろうか。ただ、ソーシャル・メディアとかスマートフォンが発明される以前から、例えば名所旧跡に落書きをするといった行為は、洋の東西を問わず存在していた*8。そうした伝統（？）との連続性や断絶は？

*1:See eg. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piazza_della_Signoria

*2:See eg. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartolomeo_Ammannati

*3:See eg. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piazzale_Michelangelo

*4:https://duomo.firenze.it/ See eg. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Cathedral

*5:See Angela Giuffrida "Intruder climbs up to dome of Florence Cathedral overnight for selfie" https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/11/intruder-climbs-up-to-dome-of-florence-cathedral-overnight-for-selfie

*6:日本だと、佐川急便の褌を触るといいことがあると言われている。

*8:See eg. https://sumita-m.hatenadiary.com/entry/20080630/1214823890 https://sumita-m.hatenadiary.com/entry/20080702/1214976924 https://sumita-m.hatenadiary.com/entry/20080726/1217045055 https://sumita-m.hatenadiary.com/entry/20130529/1369787443