Milan restores bull mosaic’s testicles to former glory

A woman twirls around as she steps on a tiled floor mosaic depicting a bull, symbol of the city of Turin that was the first capital of the Kingdom of Italy, inside the four-story double arcade Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, completed in 1867 and named after Italy's first king, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2019. Legend has that if a person turns on himself three times with the right heel on the bull's testicles (symbol of strength), this brings good luck. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Worn down by thousands of passersby honouring an unusual tradition, a floor mosaic of an anatomically detailed bull in one of Milan’s grand arcades is getting a sensitive makeover.

Legend has it that grinding one’s heel on the mosaic bull’s testicles at the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II guarantees a return one day to the city.

“Because of constant pirouettes on the heel made by tourists visiting Milan, the pink tesserae that make up its testicles have been worn down, forming a small crater,” city authorities said in a statement.

The beige bull mosaic -- representing Turin, the then-capital of Italy -- is part of the flooring in the 19th century shopping arcade near Milan’s famous Duomo cathedral.

Restorer Gianluca Galli was called in to repair the mosaic.

On Thursday, he could be seen in the gallery, kneeling down as tourists milled around and gawked at the windows of the original Prada store.

“It’s probably a charming gesture, but also quite damaging for a work of art,” Galli told AFP of the curious tradition.

The restorer cut new pieces of stone by hand after looking at designs from the period and taking an impression of the original bits.

He said he would use epoxy resins rather than the original lime and sand mortar to glue them down to better withstand tourists’ heels.

Unable to pirouette on the bull during the restoration, tourists on Thursday could be seen performing a similar act on a neighbouring she-wolf mosaic representing Rome.

The bull’s last restoration dates back to 2017.

“The gallery’s lucky spot has become worn out over time,” Emmanuel Conte and Marco Granelli, two Milan deputy mayors, said in the statement.

The time had come “to restore the gallery’s mosaic to its original appearance,” they said.

“The gallery is a living heritage site, which can wear out precisely because it is loved and frequented.”

Galli said he was proud of his work and would like to “encourage young people to take up this profession, because Italy is very much in need of male and female restorers.

“I know it’s a demanding job, because you have to travel from site to site... but it is also a job regarded in Italy as a privilege,” the craftsman said.

By Taimaz Szirniks