«Trivial, we will arrive at the David with the mandolin»- Corriere.it

There Botticelli’s Venus in jeans grappling with selfies? An unfortunate choice. Music and lyrics by Dario Nardella, mayor of Florence, which marks the special testimonial chosen by the Ministry of Tourism of Daniela Santanchè. And since it is one of its “residents” – the Renaissance masterpiece is one of the most precious gems of the Uffizi Gallery – the mayor definitely has a say.

The rejection

«Botticelli’s Venus is unique – writes Nardella on Facebook – It is one of the symbols of the beauty of Italy and testimony to the greatness of the Florentine Renaissance. Using it with a shirt on while eating a pizza to advertise Italy in the world I think it is an unfortunate and unjust choice for our culture. Why trivialize Italy like this? Why ridicule our artwork? All this reduces Italy to the usual trivial cliché and does not lead to conscious and quality tourism. At this rate we will arrive at Michelangelo’s David with a mandolin in hand». In short, the mayor of Florence joins the ranks of critics who have rejected the campaign and concludes: «Would it add anything to the charm of our country? I don’t think so – he added -. On the contrary. A run-up to like tourism appears. There are so many ways to promote our great culture around the world. This is cheesy and banal. We can do more. Remembering the roots and history of our country”.

Previous

A boutade that of the mayor on the David with the mandolin. But not even that much, if it is true that Michelangelo’s marble colossus – kept in the Galleria dell’Accademia, also in Florence – has already been “robbed” for more or less discussed but certainly dubious campaigns. From that, which sparked controversy in 2017 with David armed with a rifle as the testimonial of an arms company, to that of a brand of sunscreen that underlined its whiteness (marble), to the anti-obesity social campaign that presented him to the US decidedly out of shape. Not to mention the many different uses on the stalls of low-grade souvenirs such as the now sadly famous kitchen apron that transforms anyone into a little credible David.

The Uffizi and social networks

Whoever hides behind a curt no comment, at least for now, is the “landlord” of Botticelli’s Venus, the director of the Uffizi Galleries, Eike Schmidt, to the second, and probably last mandate to lead the museum if the announcement from the Ministry of Culture were to – as anticipated by the undersecretary Vittorio Sgarbi – prohibit a third experience at the helm of museum institutions. And to say that, as evidenced by a social post from the Uffizi Galleries themselves from some time ago, an excellent visit could have almost prophesied the campaign created by Armando Testa. July 2020: Schmidt himself welcomes – a happy intuition for the resulting boom in visits – Chiara Ferragni to the Uffizi for a photo shoot later published by Vogue Hong Kong. In the post, the classic souvenir photo in front of Botticelli’s Venus: it’s not a selfie, but the queen of social media is in a top and jeans shorts. Does she remind you of anything?