Mantua, animal rights activists daub Picasso at Palazzo Te.

Day before yesterday, Jan. 5, in Mantua some activists of the animal movement Animal Rebellion smeared with manure a painting by Pablo Picasso exhibited at Palazzo Te as part of the exhibition Picasso at Palazzo Te. Poetry and Salvation: it was the Femme couché lisant, a 1939 painting normally kept at the Musée National Picasso in Paris, chosen by the animal activists as the exhibition’s guiding image. The animal activists then released a video on their social accounts capturing what happened: during the action, three activists displayed banners and two others took manure by hand from a couple of bags and literally smeared it on the glass case protecting Picasso’s work.

The group let it be known that they staged this protest to denounce the presence of the Levoni livestock company among the members of the Fondazione Palazzo Te, alongside the City of Mantua, which is its founder and promoter. According to Animal Rebellion, the city council would be responsible for the company’s presence within the foundation, which has been criticized by the movement because the farms that supply the brand are under investigation by the NAS for animal mistreatment and precarious hygienic conditions. The group is therefore calling on the municipality and foundation to remove the company.

The activists were stopped by Palazzo Te staff, after which they were identified by law enforcement officials: two are residents of the province of Mantua, three in other provinces. They were charged with defacement, defacement, unlawful use of cultural property and unauthorized demonstration. Visitors were turned away, and the exhibition and palace had to close for an hour to allow staff to clean the work and the room (handfuls of manure also fell on the floor). No damage to the opera.

Condemnation from the City and Region. “With these acts,” said the mayor of Mantua, Mattia Palazzi, “those young people drown the very reasons for the protest and achieve exactly the opposite result of what they hope for. So it is just an ignorant gesture made on a common good, art.”

“It is not only a deplorable gesture,” said Regional Agriculture Councillor Alessandro Beduschi, “but also an example of a fanaticism that is becoming fashionable, which distances any possibility of dialogue and constructive confrontation.”

Mantua, animal rights activists daub Picasso at Palazzo Te.

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.