Athens, nationalist MP vandalizes works at National Gallery: 'they are blasphemous'

Outcry in Greece over an unprecedented incident of vandalism in Athens. On Monday, March 10, 2025, at 11:35 a.m., the Alexander Soutsos National Gallery-Museum was the scene of a direct attack on four works of art by contemporary artist Christophoros Katsadiotis. The act was carried out by Nikolaos Papadopoulos, a deputy of the far-right nationalist party “Niki” (“Victory”), with the help of another as yet unidentified person. Breaking the news was the Gallery itself with a post on its Facebook page.

The affected works, Icon 1, Icon 16, Icon 17 , and St. Christopher were on display as part of an exhibition. According to initial reconstructions, the MP broke into the exhibition spaces and, in a violent and deliberate action, ripped the works from the walls and then threw them to the floor, damaging them.

The attack provoked an immediate reaction from the management of the National Gallery, which in an official note reiterated its role in the protection of artistic heritage and took a clear stance against the act of vandalism: “The institutional role of the National Gallery is to collect, protect, highlight and document artistic creation. In this context and with respect for the free expression of art, the Board of Directors expresses confidence in the Management and supports the approved artistic program, ensuring dialogue between different trends, streams and artistic views. We strongly condemn any act of vandalism, violence and censorship that affects the constitutionally enforced freedom of artistic expression.”

Papadopoulos, from Thessaloniki, a cardiac surgeon by profession, attacked the works since he considered them blasphemous, as he called them on his Facebook page. In previous days he had protested against the museum demanding the removal of the works, but his demands were not met by the museum. Evidently, therefore, the congressman thought he would take justice into his own hands. On the day of the vandalism he then claimed the act, also complaining that he was arrested, although he was then immediately released because his actions are considered property damage and not aggravated damage: for this type of crime he was able to useparliamentary immunity. Papadopoulos’s action is part of a broader context of ideological tensions related to the ideology of his party, which has been distinguished in recent years by a strongly conservative and nationalist rhetoric, with repeated attacks on contemporary culture, which is often accused of being overly provocative or far from traditional values. Niki also opposes sex education in schools, abortion, LGBT marriage, and during Covid expressed positions close to the no-vaxers.

“I visited the National Gallery,” Papadopoulos later wrote on Facebook, “hoping to meet the director to discuss the controversial issue in person. However, since he was absent, I visited the exhibition to ascertain whether the so-called ’artistic abuses’ had been removed, as the delicate souls of pupils and students visit this exhibition every day. I was brutally offended as an Orthodox Christian when just yesterday our Church celebrated the Restoration of the Holy Images on Orthodox Sunday. It is unprecedented for both the republic’s chronicles and the criminal justice system to have my illegal detention in the National Gallery. The National Gallery is not a police department and is not a place of detention for a deputy elected by the Greek people. The deputy has immunity and this does not apply only in cases of criminal proceedings. Such persecution does not exist and apparently I was freed. Article 62 of the Constitution provides that an MP cannot be prosecuted, imprisoned or otherwise restricted without the permission of Parliament. There was no permission.” Papadopoulos also called his detention for six hours “a trauma for the Republic.”

The artist, Christophoros Katsadiotis, also spoke after the fact: “It is worth considering,” he told the Ekathimerini newspaper, “how society (politics) uses religion as a tool to control and rally the masses with threats, fear and obscurantism; how religion often preemptively categorizes believers as loyal followers or outlaws. Those who do not conform and obey are traditionally warned that they will be judged and condemned to eternal damnation, a clear form of intimidation.” On the matter itself, he reiterated that “everyone has the right to express his or her personal views, to react and, in doing so, to ask the questions he or she wishes to ask. In this particular case, the medium of expression is poetic and is not intended to represent anything offensive.”

The Greek art community, already alarmed by the increasingly tense climate toward freedom of expression, now awaits a firm response from the authorities. Art, once again, finds itself at the center of a political and ideological clash that transcends the boundaries of culture to touch the foundations of democracy itself.

Athens, nationalist MP vandalizes works at National Gallery: 'they are blasphemous'

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