On 5 September 1993, Emperor Akihito of Japan visited the Basilica of San Marco in Florence as part of a diplomatic European tour. A squadron of press followed him as he admired the church’s renaissance paintings – the archangel Gabriel, the dramatic Visione di San Tommaso d’Aquino. Among them was Fabrizio Giovannozzi, a young Florentine photojournalist. He saw a photo opportunity and asked the Emperor to move closer to the artworks. “You could have heard a pin drop,” Giovannozzi recalls with a smile. “Everyone in the church was petrified, dumbfounded – you’re not supposed to speak to the Emperor.” But he got the shot.
1993年9月5日，日本的明仁天皇在其歐洲外交之旅中訪問了位于佛羅倫薩的圣馬可大教堂。一群記者跟隨他，他在欣賞教堂中文藝復興時期的繪畫作品——大天使加百列，戲劇性的《圣托馬斯?阿奎那的異象》。年輕的佛羅倫薩攝影記者法布里齊奧?喬萬諾齊(Fabrizio Giovannozzi)發現了一個拍攝良機，便請天皇靠近這些藝術品。“教堂內靜得能聽到針落地的聲音，”喬萬諾齊帶著微笑回憶道，“每個人都被震驚得目瞪口呆——按規矩，你不該直接與天皇說話?！钡€是拍到了那一幕。