William Kentridge, “Triumphs and Laments” (2016) / Spray paint

Over the course of a year, this large-scale fresco was repeatedly damaged while on public view alongside Rome’s Tiber River. Unidentified persons applied graffiti at various points of the mural, which depicts the history of Rome, and which Kentridge created by removing the dirt building up on the walls, using a technique called “reverse stenciling.”

In March 2017, Rome’s Deputy Mayor ordered a team from the city’s refuse department to clean the frieze and erase the graffiti, calling the vandals “stupid.” Experts were confident the damage could be reversed.