Broken tour

Add to this the view — from the Siena perspective — the fact that Grossman was an American, a brazen outsider, and the clash between the two sides seemed inevitable.

When the AGT Siena filed suit, it stirred an already bubbling pot. American academics, foreign and Italian scholars, and the U.S. government thought warily of the idea that a scholar of art history had been accused over what seemed like a benign and erudite activity. UNESCO's involvement — the Italian government must monitor sites that it designates as historical — further upped the stakes. What began as a misunderstanding or a disagreement between Grossman and the AGT Siena quickly escalated into recrimination. Grossman was particularly angry because he thought he'd taken measures to avoid falling afoul of the law. He'd hired Sienese lawyer Daniele Bielli as an overseer to help ensure his activities were legal and to keep his books. Grossman also explained his activities on his website (he claims the text was approved by an associate of Bielli's) to differentiate his services from those of the guides. And he seemed protected.

Article 100 of the regional law code of Tuscany is verbose but clear. It states that "didactic activities led by experts, even with lessons at the site under consideration, issuing from schools and institutes of any order or degree and led within the context of didactic courses of a seminar-like character" are exempt from tour guide legislation. There's also Article 33 of the Italian Constitution: "Art and science are free, and free shall be the teaching of them."

Ironically, it may have been Grossman's effort to differentiate himself from AGT Siena guides that exacerbated the situation. He noted on his website that "tour guides recite memorized text in front of large groups of tourists," while he took care "of small groups ... demonstrating years of intense and highly specialized study, and consequently is able to explain paintings and buildings at a higher level." This was too much for the AGT Siena, which claimed to have unspecified proof that Grossman was acting not as a teacher but a guide. They filed suit on Jan. 31, 2001. Enraged, Grossman vowed to fight back, basing his defense on the fundamental premise that he was a teacher leading students, which exempted him from needing a tour guide license.

THE CURRENT AGT Siena president, Rita Ceccarelli, wasn't in charge when the Grossman case exploded but understands it. "It's very difficult for us," she says politely. "We are trying to create a new sensibility, a new feeling for this profession. We want people to understand the importance of what we do because nobody knows about this profession. In the past the tour guide was just a teacher or a student who led around tourists in their spare time. We are not the people with the umbrella. We are not simply that, we are more than that."

Her insight confirms that Grossman struck a raw nerve. By appearing to condescend on his website he reinforced a stereotype the AGT Siena was trying hard to quash. Adds Ceccarelli on Grossman: "I don't want to say that he isn't knowledgeable. But he doesn't have to say that we are not. We have some guides that have degrees too."

In March 2000, the regional law was changed to mandate that aspiring tour guides complete a 900-hour year-long course on history, art and tourism, among other things, before being permitted to take a certification test. Moreover, only 20 people would be selected to take the annual course. This automatically placed a cap on how many new tour guides could get work. Conversely, only about half of the AGT Siena's 86 guides (the figure is Ceccarelli's) ever took the test, since many were employed before the 2000 legislation. In addition, bidding for enrollment in the tour guide course required only a high school diploma (a handful of the Siena guides do have college degrees).

Print | Email | | | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 | Full Page

Explore

FEATURES ARCHIVE

The end of tolerance

Led by a zealous interior minister, Italy has foreigners in its cross-hairs.

When a Bra Was a Bra

Buying a bra, now a routine part of shopping, was once anything but.

The Black Hole

Remodeling an apartment inside Lucca's walls seemed like a romantic idea until the bills piled up.

The fight club

Italy's 'hooligans' may reflect social disenchantment, but they're also a subculture of rules and protocols.

Awesome America

To appreciate America’s self-involved gusto — its “great hugeness,” as Jack Kerouac once put it — means accepting ruined attention span.

More Archive