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The Gouged-Out Testicles of This Bull Mosaic in Italy Are Just Two More Victims of Tourists Abusing Monuments for Luck
Key takeaways
- The mosaic in 2007, before being repaired Giovanni Dall'Orto via Wikimedia Commons For decades, visitors to Milan’s Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II have been gouging into one particular spot on one particular floor mosaic.
- “It’s probably a charming gesture, but also quite damaging for a work of art,” craftsman Gianluca Galli, who recently repaired the mosaic, tells Agence France-Presse’s Taimaz Szirniks.
- After years of abuse, the bull’s testicles disappeared, leaving a dark crater in the mosaic.
The mosaic in 2007, before being repaired Giovanni Dall'Orto via Wikimedia Commons For decades, visitors to Milan’s Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II have been gouging into one particular spot on one particular floor mosaic. The tiles depict a rearing bull, and superstition says if someone plants their heel on the beast’s testicles and turns three times, they’ll return to Milan.
“It’s probably a charming gesture, but also quite damaging for a work of art,” craftsman Gianluca Galli, who recently repaired the mosaic, tells Agence France-Presse’s Taimaz Szirniks.
After years of abuse, the bull’s testicles disappeared, leaving a dark crater in the mosaic. The city recently commissioned its restoration—for the second time in a decade. Galli filled the hole and replaced the lost tiles, and visitors to the 19th-century shopping center are now free to walk on it again. But some observers are disappointed, saying the bull was fixed in more ways than one.