The event took place in Venice's Ca' Rezzonico museum. The guards of the museum asked the Arab woman to leave the museum since she was wearing a veil.


"I'm sorry for what happened and if she ever wants to return to our museum, she will be more than welcome," director Filippo Pedrocco told Reuters by telephone from Venice.

The woman, visiting the museum with her husband and children, had cleared security when she entered the building.


When she reached the second floor, a room guard told her she must remove her "niqab", which leaves only the eyes visible, or leave.

The woman refused to take off the veil and left the building, which faces Venice's Grand Canal and houses works by such 18th century Venetian masters as Giandomenico Tiepolo.

Italian anti-terrorism laws dating from the 1970s ban the wearing of face coverings in public but they are rarely enforced in cases of Islamic veils.

Italian media reported that the guard, who Pedrocco said worked part-time and was employed by an outside security firm, would be disciplined and risked being fired.

Senator Roberto Castelli, a member of the anti-immigrant Northern League, asked the justice minister to make sure the guard was not disciplined or sacked "for doing his duty and making sure the law was respected".

On the other hand Giancarlo Gentilini, deputy mayor of the city of Treviso north of Venice, said the guard should be "given an award and not punished".

Timeturk & Agencies