Graziano Cecchini

Trevi Fountain Dye

On 19 October 2007, Cecchini poured a can of dye into the Trevi Fountain in Rome, causing the fountain to spout red water for several hours. He also left behind several leaflets urging the public to "embrace colour". Rome police identified Cecchini as the vandal from CCTV footage and placed him under investigation for allegedly damaging a historical or artistic building.

Cecchini later took responsibility for the vandalism on the TV show Le Iene: "There is the Red Carpet Red, red Valentino and red Ferrari. Now there is also the red Trevi." He continued: "I do not accept that it is still said that it was an act of vandalism; I prepared everything in detail and our artistic provocation did not cause damage to the monument. First, it was not aniline that was used, as all newspapers have written. That stuff is carcinogenic and would not have had an immediate effect. Simple and harmless, environmentally friendly tempera was used. Of course the use of red is not random; I'm an artist and I know the subtle power of each color, I wanted to get that red and not another, not leaving the percentage of tint to chance. To ensure there would be no damage, the mixture was first tested in a pool, although it was understood that the real vandal the alderman for cultural heritage: the fountain is so filthy and caked with limestone it would be impossible stain the marble." The act was done as a protest against the Rome Film Festival organization.

After the incident, technicians shut off the fountain and were able to restore a clear flow. Neither the fountain nor its statues were permanently damaged.

Spanish Steps

Cecchini's other notable performance occurred on 16 January 2008, when he rolled 500,000 colored balls down the Spanish Steps. Each ball "represented a lie told by a politician," Cecchini told the Italian press.

The stunt was intended to draw attention to the struggles of the Karen people. "I am leaving for Burma, these balls will help the Karen people," he said as he walked down the steps with balls bouncing around him.

Cecchini paid about twenty-five thousand euro for the balls and ten trucks to transport them. Italian police arrested him at the scene.

Politics

In the 1970s, Cecchini was one of the leaders of "National Volunteers", led by Giorgio Almirante of the MSI. He later joined the movement of Roberto Fiore. He was appointed "assessore al Nulla" (Councillor Nothing) in the town of Salemi and in 2011 was a candidate for the Future and Freedom Party on the city council of Latina.