When your country is in economic turmoil, it is important to curb spending on non-essentials, Italy has therefore slashed millions from the country’s arts and heritage budget.
However, the cuts did not prevent the prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, from sanctioning a replacement for the penis on the statue of Mars which is currently stands in his Rome office. It wasn’t that Mr Berlusconi wanted a “better one”, the original had been removed. Apparently penises are often hacked off ancient Roman statues, either as souvenirs or out of prudishness.
And the reported cost to taxpayers of the restoration – 70,000 Euros which does sound expensive until you realise that experts had to study statues of male nudes from the same period in order to determine what the dimensions of the prosthetic penis should be. The new appendage is attached by a magnet so that it can be removed when a more comprehensive restoration is scheduled.
Even so, La Repubblica say the project was carried out in haste, without conforming to strict restoration rules, and would probably have to be undone when the statues return to the Baths of Diocletian museum in Rome.
That makes me wonder what they will use the 70,000 Euro prosthetic for when the proper restoration is completed. I will leave you to speculate on that.
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