Liu Ruowang's Wolf Sculptures in Florence Spark Debate on Public Art and Tourism

Liu Ruowang's wolf sculptures, previously installed in Naples' Piazza del Plebiscito, have been placed in Florence's Piazza Pitti and Piazza Santissima Annunziata. The inauguration featured Mayor Dario Nardella, Naples' former mayor Luigi de Magistris, Uffizi Director Eike Schmidt, Florence's culture councilor Tommaso Sacchi, and Chinese Consul General Wang Wengang, who posed playfully on the iron wolves. The installation, managed by the Uffizi Galleries, Florence municipality, and gallerist Matteo Lorenzelli, arrives as Florence grapples with the collapse of mass tourism due to the pandemic. Mayor Nardella warned in May that the city's tourism-dependent economy was crippled, threatening even public lighting. Florence has recently hosted public works by Jeff Koons, Urs Fischer, Ai Weiwei, and Tomás Saraceno. The article questions whether the wolf installation—intended to reflect humanity's predatory attitude toward nature—is a serious commentary on environmental and pandemic crises or a commercial operation unworthy of the city and its historic venues. The playful inauguration photos contrast with the gravity of the pandemic's toll and the city's uncertain recovery.