Varese, influencers shoot video to post on social media and destroy 19th century statue

In Viggiù (Varese, Italy), a group of German tourists, aged 25 to 30, destroyed a work by Enrico Butti (Viggiù, 1847 - 1932) decorating a fountain in the courtyard of Villa Alceo, a historic mansion near the Lombard town that became a luxury hotel in 2016. The incident occurred yesterday, Monday, July 31. Among the German tourists, the owner of the property, Bruno Golferini, told Corriere della Sera, was a model-influencer, Janis Danner, followed by 1.5 million people on Instagram. Danner is vacationing on Lake Como with his girlfriend, Jessica De Oliveira, also a model and also an influencer with 1 million followers on Instagram.

What the tourists were doing emerged from video from a video surveillance camera that was circulated by newspapers such as Varese News and the Corriere della Sera. The images show two people hugging the statue and a woman who, far from the edge of the fountain, is photographing or filming them. Suddenly, a man extends an object (looks like a stick) toward the two people hugging the sculpture, who lose their balance and fall into the water along with the statue. The video ends with the people at the edge of the fountain quickly walking away from the scene of the incident, where only the two men who were standing next to the fountain and the one who extended the object toward them remain. Images from surveillance cameras are now being examined by authorities to reconstruct the exact dynamics of the incident, but from the video there does not seem to be much room for further interpretation.

The statue is reported by The Courier to be worth 200,000 euros. Some images published by the news outlets show the sculpture shattered. “We are literally shocked,” the facility told The Courier. “For years we have been hosting international figures from the world of music and culture, diplomatic delegations and even ministers. Evidently not everyone is respectful of art.” The responsibility for the incident, according to the managers of Villa Alceo, lies with all six guests who were traveling in a group (they had booked a six-day stay) and are held responsible for “aggravated damage.” It seems that the guests also intended to shoot some videos in the villa to be posted later on social media. However, without due respect to the works of art housed there.

Varese, influencers shoot video to post on social media and destroy 19th century statue

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