Uffizi sues Jean Paul Gaultier over Venus image on clothes

The Uffizi has decided to take legal action against the fashion house Jean Paul Gaultier: the French fashion house is in fact accused of unauthorized use of Sandro Botticelli’s Venus. In fact, the fashion house used the image of the masterpiece kept in the Vasarian museum to make some clothing items, also advertising them on its social networks and on its website: however, it did so without asking permission, agreeing on the terms of use and paying the fee, as it is instead expressly required by law.

According to the Cultural Heritage Code, in fact, the use of images of Italian public property is obligatorily subject to specific authorization and the payment of a fee.

Faced with such unlawful behavior, the Florence museum’s legal department immediately took action, sending the fashion house a cease-and-desist letter in which it enjoined the withdrawal from the market of the garments bearing the image of Venus or, alternatively, to contact the museum as soon as possible to enter into the commercial agreement necessary to remedy the abuse committed.

However, the notice, sent in April to Jean Paul Gaultier, was essentially ignored. And so now the Uffizi is on the outs, or rather, on the legal avenues: a legal action has already been initiated that provides, in addition to the withdrawal of the “illegitimate” clothes, also a claim for damages in favor of the museum.

Uffizi sues Jean Paul Gaultier over Venus image on clothes

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