Ecologists in London broke the glass of a painting by Diego Velazquez in the National Gallery. With two hammers, a pair of ecologists carried out a direct aggression against the work entitled Venus in the Mirror, dating from the seventeenth century.
The attack occurred on Monday a.m., which caused the room to be cleared and the police to be called.The room was closed until 12:30 hrs. By that time, A Dead Soldier, also by Diego Velazquez, had been placed where the Venus in the Mirror was hung.
Just Stop Oil’s Protests
The environmental group Just Stop Oil claimed responsibility for the attack and indicated that its cause was to demand that the British government stop new oil and gas extraction projects in the United Kingdom.
Just Stop Oil is a climate activist group that originated in the United Kingdom but has gained relevance at a global level, through acts described as vandalism, which they justify by considering that the damage they do to institutions is the symbolic equivalent of the damage that institutions do to nature.
The Second Attack on Venus in the Mirror
In 1914, the Venus in the Mirror was attacked by the activist Mary Richardson, who made several tears with a knife she had hidden in her clothes. Richardson wanted to avenge the arrest of British suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst.
Both art and courage and struggles are worthy of admiration, however, in the realm of the symbolic sometimes paths cross in the worst possible way, and that is part of the very nature of art, meanings change according to the circumstances, and we cannot deny the importance of both activist discourses.
This story was written in Spanish by Carmen Guerrero in Cultura Colectiva News
