Climate change protesters in Italy threw a can of pea soup on a painting by Dutch impressionist Vincent van Gogh on Friday in the latest string of vandalism by activists across Europe seeking to save the planet from climate change.
The incident, which saw the protesters glue themselves to Van Gogh’s painting The Sower after splattering the painting with soup, was carried out by four women from the group Ultima Generazione, or “Last Generation,” according to Reuters, and marked the first such incident in Rome. The painting is on loan from a museum in the Netherlands and is currently displayed in the museum Palazzo Bonaparte in Rome’s city center.
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“These issues should be on the front pages of the news channels and political agendas every minute, but are instead only addressed with ‘scandalous’ actions like the one this morning,” the women said in a joint statement obtained by Reuters.
Climate activists have just thrown vegetable soup on Van Gogh’s The Sower on display in Rome. It’s getting pathetic. As said, there are better ways to get attention. This is pissing a lot of people off. Even people who are as concerned as them about climate-problems. pic.twitter.com/JL8lhE4aft
— Arthur Brand (art detective) (@brand_arthur) November 4, 2022
No damage was done to the painting due to a protective glass surrounding the historical art piece, according to the museum’s president and managing director, Iole Siena. The museum was prepared for the incident, Siena added. It is not clear whether the protesters were arrested.
The painting was the second of Van Gogh’s to be vandalized in recent months after a climate change advocacy group splattered Van Gogh’s painting Sunflowers at London’s National Gallery last month. The protests come ahead of a major climate change summit in Egypt next week, where representatives from 200 countries are expected to be in attendance.
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Climate change protesters have vandalized artwork in England, Australia, and Germany so far, damaging artwork by French impressionist Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, and Leonardo da Vinci. One set of protesters also caked a wax statue of King Charles III at Madame Tussauds in London. Protesters have also scaled the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, interrupted traffic on historic streets, and spraypainted British government buildings in recent weeks.
At least 550 protesters have been arrested in the United Kingdom alone, according to the Evening Standard.
