The town hall, Palazzo Vecchio and Palazzo Pitti are deteriorating because of vehicle emissions and acid rain. Florence has about 1,000 sites at risk, as has Milan, where polluting agents have been identified even in the Refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie, site of the recently restored Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci. They are listed as needing urgent aid. Rome has more sites clamouring for protection than Florence and Milan combined. The equestrian statue of Emperor Marcus Aurelius has been placed behind glass in the Capitoline museum, while a tatty copy has taken its place in the town hall square.
Scaffolding shows the battle to conserve it is under way.
That battle has to be fought at ever more frequent intervals. For this Jubilee year, the soccer field-sized facade of St Peter's was cleaned completely for the first time since its completion in the 17th century, but it will need to be cleaned again within a decade. The Vatican paid for that, but the Italian Government has to foot the bill elsewhere, while the already hopelessly long list of monuments, works of art and archaeological sites in peril continues to grow. Further funds are expected from the opening of 420 bingo halls across Italy, with a share of the profits to be used for cultural purposes.