Milan Restores Bull Mosaic After Tourists Wore Down Its Testicles Again Since 2017
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · May 29
Milan Restores Bull Mosaic After Tourists Wore Down Its Testicles Again Since 2017
10 articles · Updated · BBC.com · May 29
Restoration began this week on Milan’s bull mosaic in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II after tourists’ heel-spinning ritual wore its pink-tiled testicles into a small crater.
Artisan Gianluca Galli is hand-cutting new stone pieces on site, with the city saying thousands of visitors perform the clockwise spin for luck and a promised return to Milan.
The 19th-century mosaic, which represents Turin in the historic arcade, was last restored in 2017 and is again being repaired because constant foot traffic has damaged the artwork.
City officials called the Galleria “living heritage,” framing the work as a recurring effort to preserve a landmark whose popularity is also the source of its wear.
With the bull under repair, is Rome's she-wolf becoming Milan's new good luck charm?
Does the famous bull ritual earn more in tourism than it costs the city in repairs?
Can modern epoxy save a historic mosaic from a tradition that is loving it to death?