A normal day at the Reina Sofía Museum. Visitors walk through the rooms and examine famous works such as El Guernica. An Italian woman is interested in the set La Pilgrimage of the Horned Ones by painter and sculptor Alberto Sánchez and climbs onto the stage of the play to try and take a selfie. He then confirms firsthand that it wasn’t a good idea as he slips and tears up the work. This accident, which happened on June 3, happened days after a man in a wig and a wheelchair threw a cake at La Gioconda in the Louvre Museum. In both cases the damage was minimal and the two works are still on display. But what guarantee is there that no major damage can occur?
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The secrecy of the various museums regarding security issues prevents knowing the details of the protocols put in place to intercept vandalism or accidents. secretary of the Reina Sofía, Concha Iglesias, assures that they have “all the necessary control, security and protection measures, as well as specific plans for the evacuation of the works”, but considers that it is not convenient to “enter make them a different kind of precision”. The Thyssen Museum and the Prado Museum go in the same direction, making it clear from the latter’s communications department that they don’t talk about “these issues” to “provide ideas”.
Antonio Macías, head of the Night Watch between 1974 and 2009, points out the importance of introducing state-of-the-art systems in the series of video stories entitled The Voices of the Prado. “There wasn’t even a camera. It existed neither at the entrance nor at the exit. When they arrived we were very happy because the museum was better guarded. When the alarms went off, we already knew the full extent of security. The alarm went off in the boardroom, on the roof… And that’s where we had to go,” explains Macías. On the other hand, Pedro Álvarez, who was the Prado’s construction and maintenance manager from 1994 to 2009, recalls an incident in which the building itself (rather than its works) was attacked. “Someone burned down Murillo’s door for us. They said he wanted revenge for something, but we don’t know who it was,” he says. For Álvarez, what is significant about this event is that the door “was repaired by the museum staff: the carpenters, the locksmith, José de la Fuente [restaurador] and more”.
“The Pilgrimage of the Cuckolds” by Alberto Sánchez, restored and exhibited at the Reina Sofía Museum. MUSEUM REINA SOFÍA (Europa Press)
One of the greatest connoisseurs of cultural security protocols is American novelist Noah Charney. In his book El ladrón de arte (Seix Barral), the author points out that figures and objects with a certain religious component have been the main victims of vandalism due to iconoclastic thinking, which rejects the representation of the elements of scripture. In this sense, Charney also points out that churches, sometimes more than museums, are the most vulnerable places for these types of attacks. In order to protect a space dedicated to art from theft and vandalism, the novelist assures, it is necessary “to implement a system similar to that used in airports”. It is customary to hand in bags and coats before entering an art space to be scanned.
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There is also a document from the Ministry of Culture and Sport entitled Guide to a plan to protect collections in the event of an emergency, which addresses the issue of damage to works. The text considers terrorism, theft, vandalism and the consequences of war in the category of intentional damage of an anthropic nature. Regarding vandalism, as in the case of the cake at La Gioconda, the document states that “they are sometimes added to a significant object in the collection to make the attacker known”, although it also ensures that they are generally reduced will ” damage which, because of their small size (chewing gum, etc.) do not qualify as an emergency”. Accidents are assumed to be one of the possible risks from human causes, without going into detail about the significance of this type of damage.
The document states that “the point is not for the museum to make an exhaustive list of all the risks it may be exposed to, but for it to take into account those that have existed in the past and those that may arise in the future”. In this sense, there is a history of works that have been damaged either accidentally or on purpose. Historically, causes such as the search for recognition, the intention to express political and social criticism, as well as the psychological instability or personal problems of the attacker are attributed as the reason for intentional attacks.
Visitors marvel at Michelangelo’s David in the Accademia Gallery in Florence. Robert Alexander (Getty Images)
Italian psychiatrist Graziella Margherini, the same who coined the famous term “Stendhal syndrome,” which refers to changes brought on by a kind of beauty overdose, added that artworks could also induce violence in people. According to the veteran researcher, when faced with a play like Michelangelo’s David, a person can be “jealous and envious of that perfect body,” which would lead them to do harm to “validate themselves.” This “David Syndrome” (as Margherini dubbed it) shares with Stendhals the basis of art’s powerful impact on man. “It’s a very strong stimulus. So much so that it can cause a crisis.” One of the most famous episodes of this kind occurred in 1972 when an Australian geologist named Laszlo Toth pounded Michelangelo’s Pietà to the ground and exclaimed, “I am Jesus Christ, who rose from the dead!” The sculpture was significantly damaged and the person responsible was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. Currently, the work is protected behind glass that can withstand bullet impacts.
Spray on ‘Guernica’
Guernica was also assassinated in 1974 while it was still in the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. Tony Shafrazi, a renowned gallery owner, wrote “kill all lies” in red spray paint on Picasso’s canvas. On this occasion, the damage was easily repaired and MoMA did not file a lawsuit against Shafrazi. As in the case of La Piedad, Guernica is currently protected by bulletproof glass.
Among the accidents that have caused serious damage to works, the event that took place in Lisbon in 2016 with an 18th-century sculpture of the Archangel Saint Michael stands out. A tourist trying to take a picture, similar to the case of La Pilgrimage of the Horned Ones, knocked the work off its pedestal. The archangel’s carving lost its wings and the feathers that adorned its helmet.
“La Mona Lisa” by Leonardo da Vinci.
But of all the works that have been damaged and destroyed, few have a history comparable to that of La Gioconda. The first damage it sustained at the hands of a person dates back to 1956, when a person threw acid at Leonardo da Vinci’s work. Bulletproof glass was fitted to protect the canvas after another rock attack that same year, but this has not prevented it from suffering other attacks, such as that of a woman spraying it in 1978 when the work was exhibited in Tokyo or so the launch of a hot cup of tea in 2009.
Aside from the damage, La Gioconda was also stolen in 1911 by Italian artist Vincenzo Peruggia, who was arrested trying to sell the work to the Uffizi Gallery. All this until the purest news was reached, in which a cake left a strange picture for visitors who were there at the right time.