Advertising logos are a bridge too far for Florentines

FLORENCE’S culture chiefs have spoken of their “horror” after company logos, including that of American Express, were projected onto the Ponte Vecchio.

The bridge, completed in 1345, is one of Italy’s best-known landmarks and was spared from demolition by the retreating German army in the Second World War.

The projection was part of a city-wide light show that took place over Christmas and New Year.

Commercial slogans were also projected onto the Istituto degli Innocenti, a 600-year-old former orphanage.

“We never authorised the projection of sponsors’ logos onto the facades of buildings,” said Andrea Pessina, the city’s head of art, archeology and cultural heritage. “These monuments should not be used as billboards.”

Eike Schmidt, director of the Uffizi Galleries, also criticised the projections.

The light festival has been held in past years but commercial slogans had never featured. Florence’s mayor has now said that such advertisements would be banned in future shows.