Bacchus statue Florence: Female tourist slammed as 'disgusting' by locals after pictures show her imitating sex acts on famous statue

The pictures sparked fury amongst Italian locals with one writing “crazy”, and another saying “tourists go home” in the comment section of the post shared on Instagram. The woman was captured imitating sex acts with a famous statue in Florence, Italy.

She reportedly climbed up to Giambologna's nude Bacchus and started pretending to kiss him. She then proceeded to grind her backside against the statue’s crotch as her friend took pictures as she imitated sex acts. The woman’s nationality remains unknown.

Another local wrote on the Instagram post “arrest, complaint, trial, fine, expulsion” while another said: “What a disgrace! Report and fine immediately for this uncivilised idiot. Art doesn’t hurt!”.

Patrizia Asproni from Confcultura, a cultural heritage organisation, said: “Florence is a city that does not make visitors respect it. These continuous manifestations of rudeness and incivility occur because everyone feels entitled to do what they want with impunity. We need to apply the ‘Singapore model’: tight controls, very high fines, zero tolerance.”

Police chief Antonella Ranaldi added: “Tourists are welcome, but there must be respect for our monuments, whether they are originals or copies. Also because I doubt that this lady, who has my blame, knows the difference.”

The Bacchus stands on a plinth on a street corner near the famous Ponte Vecchio bridge and is a modern replica of the 16th Century work by sculptor Giambologna. The original is kept in the nearby Bargello museum.

Florence is one of the world's foremost tourist destinations. In 2023, around 1.5 million people visited the city - which has a population of just 382,000 - between June and September. Local residents have long struggled with the huge influx of tourists, which in the summer months turns Florence's narrow streets into steady streams of people.