Environmental activists from the ‘Last Generation’ movement have thrown vegetable puree on the four ‘The Sower’ by Vincent Van Gogh, on display at the Palazzo Bonaparte museum in Italy’s capital, Rome, as part of an exhibition dedicated to the Dutch painter.
However, the work has not been damaged because it had a glass as protection, something that the activists were counting on, who have recognized that their intention was not to spoil ‘The Sower’.
As highlighted from the environmental organization, the present is being seen «overshadowed by a real and imminent catastrophe,» as well as the most prominent elements of the painting – the field, the farmer and his house – are faded by the pea puree poured over the painting.
For ‘Last Generation’, its action tries to show that climate change affects the guarantees of access to food, forces people to migrate from their homes and highlights the need to bet on a transition to sustainable energy, according to the Italian agency AdnKronos.
«It is a desperate and scientifically founded cry that cannot be understood as simple vandalism, but as the manifestation of a visceral love for life and for art, which can only be protected with a serious and timely intervention by governments», added ‘Last Generation’.
Over the last few weeks there have already been several similar episodes of activists from groups such as Just Stop Oil who have sprayed paint, poured tomato sauce and even tried to stick their heads on paintings such as ‘The Sunflowers’, also by Van Gogh or ‘The Girl with the Pearl Earring’, by Johannes Vermeer.
