“Acqua,” a carved piece of Carrara marble by the artist Giorgio Butini, underwater near Talamone, Italy. Gianni Cipriano for The New York Times

We have featured many stories about marine conservation intersecting with the arts and crafts. Most of those stories are in the Caribbean. Now, Jason Horowitz has surprised us with this from Italy:

An Underwater World of Marble to Amuse and Protect Tuscan Fish

TALAMONE, Italy — As the Sirena brought its passengers back to port, Paolo Fanciulli paused from spreading his nets and sustainable fishing gospel to point at an empty spot of sea.

“There, below the lighthouse,” said Mr. Fanciulli, clad in his rib-high yellow waders. “The sculptures are there.”

Paolo Fanciulli’s “House of Fish” project is part environmental activism, part arts initiative, part marketing campaign, part bid for a lasting legacy. Gianni Cipriano for The New York Times

About 25 feet below the rippling surface of this rocky promontory on the southern Tuscan coast, schools of fish visited a museum of four marble blocks, mined from Michelangelo’s preferred quarry and sculpted by acclaimed artists.

Farther north, another 20 Carrara marble sculptures had a different job — as submerged sentries against the illegal bottom trawling that has depleted Talamone’s marine life. Continue reading →