Environmental activists threw soup on a Van Gogh protected by glass on Friday in Rome to draw attention to climate change, an action immediately condemned as a “despicable act” by the Minister of Culture.
the sower, a work dating from 1888 showing a peasant sowing his field with a huge sun in the background, is exhibited behind glass as part of an exhibition dedicated to the Dutch painter at the Bonaparte Palace in Piazza Venezia, in the center of Rome . The painting was not damaged.
“Attacking art is a despicable act that must be strongly condemned,” Italian Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano lashed out in a statement. “Culture, which is the basis of our identity, must be defended and protected, and certainly not used as a megaphone for other forms of protest”.
According to the climate group “Last generation” (“Last generation” in French), this action carried out by four individuals is “a desperate and scientifically based cry which cannot be equated to simple vandalism”.
“Nonviolent direct actions will continue until citizens get answers from their governments on their demands to stop gas and coal and invest in at least 20 GW of renewable energy,” the group said in a statement. .
In a video shot inside the exhibition, we see two young women throwing a liquid substance in the direction of the painting. Another woman then joins them and all three stick their hands on the wall of the room amid cries of indignation from visitors.
Un altro quadro di Van Gogh imbrattato dagli ambientalisti di Ultima generazione. Tre attiviste hanno gettato una zuppa di verdura su “Il seminatore”, in mostra a Roma. Come negli altri casi, l’opera è protetta da un vetro e non ha subtilo danni. pic.twitter.com/yjdNmLeEPz
— Tg3 (@Tg3web) November 4, 2022
“Shame on you,” several people shouted at them before the police evacuated the room.
It is the latest action of this type carried out by climate activists, after famous works of art were targeted in several cities in Europe.
Earlier this month, two ‘Last Generation’ activists spilled mashed potatoes on the glass protecting Claude Monet’s canvas Millstones at the Barberini Museum in Potsdam, Germany.
Environmental activists also glued themselves to the glass protecting the pearl girl by Johannes Vermeer in a museum in the Netherlands and others threw soup on the one that protected the Sunflowers by Vincent van Gogh at the National Gallery in London.
the sower is one of around fifty works by Van Gogh on loan from the Kröller Müller museum in Oterlo in the Netherlands for the exhibition dedicated to the painter in Rome, which opened on October 8.
Contacted by AFP for details of the activists’ action, the exhibition’s organizing company, Arthemisia, did not immediately respond.