Activists from the environmental movement Just Stop Oil, which campaigns against fossil fuels, broke the protective glass of a Velázquez painting that had been torn up by a women’s rights activist last century at the National Gallery in London on Monday.
The two activists, aged 20 and 22, entered the building at around 10:45 a.m. (local time and GMT) and hit the shelter of “Venus in the Mirror”, a painting known in the UK as “Rokeby Venus”, with a hammer. is known. said the organization in a press release.
Just Stop Oil activists have smashed the window of Rokeby’s Venus in the National Gallery in London: it’s not ecology, they’re just being environmentally friendly! pic.twitter.com/Mf24fulbqB
– Gilbert Collard (@GilbertCollard) November 6, 2023
The latter, known for his forceful approach, is calling for an immediate halt to new oil and gas projects in the UK.
The painting in question by Diego Velázquez dates from the mid-17th century and is considered to be the only surviving nude by the Spanish painter. In 1914 he was slashed with a cleaver by Canadian women’s rights activist Mary Richardson.
She protested against the imprisonment of another women’s suffrage activist in the United Kingdom.
“Women did not have the right to vote at the ballot box. “It is no longer time for words, but for actions,” the activists said after their action, according to Just Stop Oil.
The National Gallery confirmed the action and said it evacuated visitors from the room and called police while the painting was removed for examination by museum curators.
London police said they had arrested the two activists on charges of criminal damage.
Last year, Just Stop Oil activists previously targeted the National Gallery, where they threw tomato soup at Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, and the Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague, where they jointly stuck in the window of The Girl with a Pearl Earring. by Vermeer. In both cases the paintings were protected by glass and were not damaged.
The organization most often attacks motorists by blocking traffic and has drawn hostility from Britain’s Conservative government, which has tightened legislation to prevent its actions.
This new action comes as the executive decided to award new hydrocarbon exploration and drilling licenses in the North Sea, which has led to it being accused of failing to meet its climate commitments.
In the name of energy security, he announced on Monday that he wanted to enshrine the annual review of possible new concessions in law.