FLORENCE – On the anniversary of birth of Michelangelo, the replica statue of David in Piazza della Signoria in Florence was covered with a black cloth as a sign of mourning and pain for the war in Ukraine, cultural sources said.

 The mayor of Florence Dario Nardella and representatives of the city’s Ukrainian community displayed the yellow and blue flag and attached ribbons of the same colours onto the black cloth at the event on Sunday.

 “Today we want to remember Michelangelo on the day of his birth, March 6, with this gesture which is a gesture of mourning and pain[…] to remember the thousands and thousands of civilian and military victims in Kiev and in all other Ukrainian cities,” said Nardella.

 “We also want to remember the Russian military, the young Russian soldiers sent by Putin and his government to die in a crazy, unjust war and therefore incomprehensible for Florence this is a day of mourning and pain for all the dead,” he added. 

 In his speech, the mayor of Florence thanked the representatives of the Ukrainian community and two Russians for participating this symbolic gesture. Nardella also asked Florentines to bring flowers to the statue as a sign of protest against the war.

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