The restoration of a 19th-century floor mosaic called the Rampant Bull in Milan's Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II shopping arcade has sparked mockery after the work appears to have removed the bull's testicles. The tiny pink tiles depicting the testicles had worn down due to a tourist ritual of spinning a heel on them three times for good luck. The €30,000 restoration, completed and reopened to the public on Monday, was praised by local councillor Marco Granelli on Facebook but met with a flood of criticism and jokes about the missing anatomical detail.
The incident matters because it highlights the tension between preserving cultural heritage and managing the impact of tourism rituals that physically damage artworks. The bull mosaic, a symbol of Turin, is part of a UNESCO-listed arcade that is one of the world's oldest shopping galleries. The mockery also raises questions about restoration ethics, public spending, and whether the removal was intentional to discourage the heel-spinning tradition, with some accusing the city council of censorship.