When the suffragist Mary Richardson walked into the National Gallery in London with a concealed hatchet in March 1914, she headed for the “Rokeby Venus,” one of Diego Velázquez’s most celebrated paintings, and slashed it repeatedly.
Now, over a century later, Velázquez’s nude appears to have been damaged again.
Just before 11 a.m. on Monday, two climate activists belonging to Just Stop Oil, a British group that wants to prevent new oil and gas licensing, struck the glass that protects the painting 10 times with emergency hammers.
It was initially unclear whether they had damaged the painting.
Over the past year and a half, Just Stop Oil has made headlines through attention-grabbing stunts in British museums, including protests in which members glued themselves to John Constable’s “The Hay Wain” and threw tomato soup over Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” — two other artworks in the National Gallery collection.
Persons:
Mary Richardson, Rokeby, Diego Velázquez’s, ” —, John Constable’s “, Hay Wain ”, Vincent van
Locations:
London, British