Last Updated: May 07, 2023, 14:52 IST
Italian climate activists poured black liquid into the waters of Bernini’s Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi in Rome’s central Piazza Navona. (Credits: Ultima Generazione)
The protesters were met with insults and whistles from onlookers and tourists near the famous spot and were dragged out of the fountain and taken away by police
A group of climate activists in Italy have poured “a charcoal-based black liquid” into the waters of Rome’s iconic Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi on Saturday afternoon.
The group behind the protest said that four people linked to “Let’s not pay for fossil” campaign poured vegetable-based charcoal into the Fountain of the Four Rivers to “sound the alarm about the black future that awaits humanity.”
“Our future is as black as this water. Without water there is no life and with rising temperatures we are exposed to drought on the one hand and floods on the other,” the group Ultima Generazione said on their website.
“Water that is missing to grow food, water that falls all together destroying the houses. Difficult years await us, but if we don’t zero emissions immediately, they will be terrible,” they added.
“Our future is as black as this water”. Climate activists pour black liquid into the waters of Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona, amid a sea of insults from onlookers, before being dragged out by Rome police.pic.twitter.com/YIDuSuhDR1— Wanted in Rome (@wantedinrome) May 6, 2023
Pictures showed activists, wearing orange vests, standing waist deep in the fountain and the banners read in Italian, “Our future is as black as this water.”
The protesters were met with insults and whistles from onlookers and tourists near the famous spot and were dragged out of the fountain and taken away by police.
Last month, the group had led protests at historical sites in Italy including the Fontana della Barcaccia fountain in Rome where they poured similar black liquid into the fountain on April 1.
♠️ Roma – Tinta di nero l’acqua della fontana della Barcaccia ????E’ assurdo che questo gesto vi scandalizzi, quando stiamo vivendo un’emergenza siccità che mette in crisi l’agricoltura, la produzione di energia… insomma la nostra stessa sussistenza, e ci sono dei responsabili. pic.twitter.com/AROZ0oU8CX
— Ultima Generazione (@UltimaGenerazi1) April 1, 2023
Climate-linked protests have saw activists glued themselves to Italian masterpieces in locations including Vatican museums and Uffizi galleries in Florence.
Italian Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano condemned the activists’ protest and said those responsible must “pay out of their own pockets.”
“We have to record yet another defacement that endangers the beauty of one of our nation’s iconic works of art,” Sangiuliano said.
Ancora un insensato gesto di sfregio sui monumenti di #Roma. Questa volta imbrattata la magnifica fontana dei Quattro Fiumi a #PiazzaNavona. Le lotte giuste diventano sbagliate se danneggiano i beni comuni. Non è mettendo a rischio il patrimonio artistico che si salva l’ambiente! pic.twitter.com/XM0CMUN8mf— Roberto Gualtieri (@gualtierieurope) May 6, 2023
Rome’s mayor Roberto Gualtieri also condemned the move as “another senseless gesture defacing the monuments of Rome” and added, “It is not by putting the artistic heritage at risk that the environment is saved!”
The Fiumi Fountain, located in the famed Piazza Navona square in Rome, was designed by Italian sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini in 1651.
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