Ecovandals now turn to hammering: damage to glass of Velázquez's Venus Rokeby

“Our government revealed it has plans for more drilling licenses, knowing they will kill millions. In response, two Just Stop Oil supporters smashed Venus Rokeby.” Thus, in a tweet, the Just Stop Oil association claimed today’s attack on the Rokeby Venus, a masterpiece by Diego Velázquez painted between 1647 and 1651 and housed at the National Gallery in London, where two activists marked a quantum leap in ecovandals’ actions against heritage. In fact, now they are no longer content with defacing works: in fact, the two “supporters” have taken a hammer to the Spanish painter’s work.

The two activists are two young people, a boy and a girl, aged 20 and 22, who used a safety hammer to smash the glass of the painting. The action, the association the two activists support let them know, was inspired by the gesture made in 1914 by suffragette Mary Richardson, who entered the National Gallery and damaged the work, causing tears in the surface. Apparently the two said, after hammering the work, “Women did not get the vote by voting, it’s time for action and not words. It’s time to just stop the oil.” The two activists were later arrested by police.

Ecovandals now turn to hammering: damage to glass of Velázquez's Venus Rokeby

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.