Florentines in Italy are very sensitive to their responsibilities as custodians of some of the greatest art treasures in the world. Similarly, as the best craftsmen, they are generally more afraid of floods than war, disease and death. In 1333, 1577, 1666 and 1844, cruel floods hit the prosperous Italian art capital in the Renaissance several times. Every flood makes more treasures flow into the river bed, sink into mud or be washed away by water.
Dante saw in Florence that "the lovely green bank of the Arno River" turned into "meaningless foam and mud."
The Arno River and its tributaries threatened the Italian Huang Jincheng again at the beginning of 1966+0 1. Millions of tons of floods poured down from the mountains in northern Florence with cyclone storms, causing the water levels of the Arno and Po rivers to rise sharply.
In a distant holiday mineral spring, a hotel employee shouted into the phone and said that he saw the water in a nearby lake surging on the shore. He described that the whole forest seemed to slide down the hillside. 165438+1On October 4th, the Arno River flooded into Florence, flooding two thirds of the city. The exquisite jewelry stores built along Ponte Visiya Street 1345 were all submerged. All kinds of products (6,000 pieces in total) of Holy Cross Handicraft Shop, including products of weavers, carpenters, cobblers and fur carders, were also swallowed up by the flood. To make matters worse, the magnificent crucifix built in13rd century was also soaked in oily salt water 12 hours, and 70% of the color was washed away beyond repair.
The "Heaven Gate" built by ghiberti (1738 ~ 1455) is a bronze relief door decorated with all baptisms. At first, people were worried that it would be destroyed because five partitions were washed away by the raging water, but later it was found that they were blocked by iron railings around the Baptist church.
Throughout the day, the flood splashed on the murals of Giltandio, Botticelli and Andredet Sartor centuries ago. The sculptures of Michelangelo and Donatello were also polluted by oil and mud. More than 600 oil paintings have been damaged, but most of them can still be repaired, and priceless manuscripts and ancient books before the 0/6th century in the National Library/KLOC cannot be repaired. They were one of the first victims of Florence caused by the Arno River. The flood washed away the wall of the big library, and more than half a million historical records were lost. This reminds people of the huge losses caused by the fire of the Royal Library in Turin in A.D. 1903 and the destruction of antiquities in the Alexandria Library in A.D. 500.
The flood flooded into the University of Florence, and millions of books in the library of the Department of Literature, History and Philosophy were washed away. Thousands of doctoral dissertations of the School of Economics and Business were destroyed by floods; The most precious and only more than 2,000 precious legal documents and books (17th century to19th century) were washed away from the law department building. All the scientific instruments of the Department of Medicine and most of the books collected by Shan Chalvet Neuro-brain Disease Clinic were also washed away. In just a few hours, one of the most outstanding universities in the world lost its most precious intellectual heritage.
Although most Florentine residents moved to higher roofs, waiting for the flood to subside, Professor Embetto Badiini, the old curator of uffizi gallery, refused to leave. Together with several employees, he carried a large number of works by Giotto (one of his multi-screen screens weighing several hundred catties), Botticelli massac and Fra filippo Lippi upstairs one by one, and even though the flood had reached his knees, they did not stop the rescue work.
At dawn, the city of Florence is still in turmoil, and the falling water is accompanied by mud that reaches people's waist. Shopkeepers reached into the mud to look for their goods and tools, but most of them were washed away.
Emilio Pussy, a designer, took a look at his dilapidated workshop and the loss of more than $6.5438+0 million in it, shrugged his shoulders and said firmly, "Personally, I will start over." But for others, there may be no new beginning. 1 13 people died tragically under the collapsed building, and their bodies were swollen.
When the Italian government sent a batch of helicopters (800 sorties) to bring water and food to Florence, many artists, historians, professors and students immediately began to rescue the cultural heritage. They dug up thousands of books, paintings and sculptures from the soil and sent them to the University of Florence. There, the restoration work is under intense pressure. Hundreds of American students studying art volunteered to take part in the rescue work all day. Many famous experts came from all over the world to help with the restoration work. All the people worked until they were exhausted.
The floods in 1333, 1577, 1666 and 1844 made the people in Florence, Italy more afraid of floods than of war, disease and death. Because every flood makes a large number of Florence's art treasures flow into the river bed, sink into the mud or be washed away by the water, it is especially sad for Florence, the custodian of some of the greatest art treasures in the world. 1The flood from 4 to 6 October 1966 165438+ caused unprecedented losses in Florence, and countless priceless art treasures were destroyed or washed away.
The main reason for the flood in Florence is that the continuous heavy rain and 90-mile-per-hour winds have caused the Arno and Po rivers in the city to swell and flood. For Florentines who have been hit by several floods in succession, we should realize that disaster is an inevitable tragedy of mankind, and its concealment and suddenness are great tragedies of mankind. However, if we recognize the disaster and fail to take effective measures to prevent and mitigate it in time, it will be a greater tragedy for mankind. The philosophical proverb "He who has no long-term worries will have near worries" is of great significance to guiding disaster prevention. Today, with disasters coming one after another, "Better late than never" also shows its practical value.