2020.06.18 Christopher Columbus, San Francisco, California USA
Italian sculptor Count Vittorio de Colbertaldo (a former bodyguard of Benito Mussolini) completed this statue of Christopher Columbus in 1957. Upon its completion, the Columbus Monument Committee, City of Genoa, Italy, and Marini family donated the statue to the city of San Francisco, California, where it was installed on Telegraph Hill outside Coit Tower.
The statue was a variation of a 1952 version Colbertaldo installed in Miami, Florida’s Bayfront Park. In 2019, the San Francisco statue was defaced with red paint and restored by the city for the sum of $70,000.00. The statue was removed on June 18, 2020 by the San Francisco Arts Commission after it was determined the statue “doesn’t align with San Francisco’s values or commitment to racial justice.”