A visitor takes a commemorative photo with his hand on the right breast of the bronze statue of Juliet. Italian ANSA communication capture
The bronze statue of Juliet in Verona, northern Italy, the setting for Shakespeare’s representative tragedy ‘Romeo and Juliet’, is suffering due to erroneous beliefs.
According to Verona’s local newspaper Larena on the 7th (local time), a tiny hole was recently discovered in the right chest of this bronze statue. The hole is small, about a few millimeters in size, but there are concerns that the size of the hole will gradually increase over time.
This statue has already been replaced once, and the original bronze statue of Juliet made in 1972 had a hole in the same area, and the current replica was installed in 2014. The lifespan of a bronze statue is about 50 years, but Juliet of Verona is in danger of being replaced again after 10 years.
It is presumed that this situation arose because of a rumor that if you touch the right breast of the Juliet statue, you will fall in love with a destined person. Numerous tourists from all over the world are putting their hands on Juliet’s breasts. Experts believe that the holes are formed due to the acid content of the sweat on the hands and the continuous application of physical pressure.
It is said that even at the time of the replacement in 2014, there was a heated debate over whether to allow touching the Juliet statue. This is because there was a lot of criticism that the act of caressing the breast of the Juliet statue was vulgar sexism.
However, the city of Verona did not stop the Juliet bronze statue as it became a representative tourist product of the city. Even now, the statue of Juliet is surrounded by many visitors every day, most of whom place their hands on the statue’s right chest and take commemorative photos.
Seo Da-eun, online news reporter dada@segye.com
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