The building was perfect, the workers had recently completed the work for which the facade bonus had been used when, a San Canzian, in the Cannaregio districtthe writers have arrived.
So, one night, complete with a purple spray can they were smear the lucky anchorsthose that you touch for good luck when you pass over the bridge because, according to legend, they are said to bring good luck precisely because if you touch them it means you are still alive and the time has not yet come to be “ferried” to the island of San Michele or to be quartered and exposed to passers-by. In fact, in the past they were exactly the hooks on which the two quarters of the body of the “slashers” were hung, that is, people condemned to be cut into four parts as punishment for their crimes and put before everyone’s eyes.
“An uncivilized thing,” he comments Nicolò Guerrathe digital creator part of the duo Niko and Teo, with his partner Matteo Ognibenboth committed to talking about Venetianness on social media.
A few evenings ago, returning home, the two noticed the writings and shared their dismay with their followers.
«Even if it is not a monument, it is a symbol of our tradition. In Venice the problem of tourism is not only linked to quantity, but also to quality and this is one of many examples”, continues Guerra.
The meaning of the writings
The writings are nothing more than a tag, or a word that can refer, again on social media, to profiles of artists seeking visibility. In this case, the letters read “Smokes atm”a writing which, among other things, also appeared in other parts of the city.
On Friday 14 June morning, the Unisve company, which had carried out the work on the building, was called back by the owners to clean the facade of writing.
«A job that will take the whole day», explains an employee at work, busy with brush strokes.
«I’m applying paint thinner, then a layer of acetone. More interventions will certainly be needed and the color will have to be camouflaged with glazes”, she explains, adding that the work is certainly made more complicated by the fact that the spray used is dark but also by the location, close to the canal.
