Climate protesters splatter Van Gogh in Rome with pea soup

Environmental activists tossed pea soup on a Vincent van Gogh portray Friday in Rome to protest carbon use and pure gasoline extraction, however induced no injury to the glass-covered portray.

Security intervened instantly and eliminated the protesters kneeling in entrance of “The Sower” on the Palazzo Bonaparte to ship a manifesto.

Protesters from the identical group, the Last Generation, earlier blocked a freeway close to Rome.

The portray belongs to the Kroller-Muller Museum within the Netherlands and was on mortgage for a present in Italy’s capital that includes works by Van Gogh. Officials mentioned the 1888 portray was undamaged. Italy’s new tradition minister, Gennaro Sangiuliano, condemned the protest.

“Attacking art is an ignoble act that must be firmly condemned,” he mentioned. “Culture, which is the basis of our identity, must be defended and protected, and certainly not used as a megaphone for other forms of protest.”

Climate activists have staged comparable protests have taken place at museums in Britain, Germany and elsewhere in Italy, focusing on works by Van Gogh, Botticelli and Picasso. The stunt backfired for some onlookers.

“It totally defeats the purpose,” Hans Bergetoft, a vacationer from Stockholm, mentioned. “I am really for the cause in itself, but not the action. Not the action that they took. Not at all.”