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Two activists from the ‘Just Stop Oil’ group have damaged the protective glass of Velázquez’s painting in the Mirror, on display at the National Gallery in London. The group claimed responsibility for the act on the social network X (formerly Twitter), stating, “Our government has revealed its plans to grant more oil licenses, knowing that it will kill millions of people.”
The activists further stated, “In response, two Just Stop Oil supporters destroyed the Venus in the Mirror, sliced by Mary Richardson in 1914,” referencing a previous attack on the painting in the early 20th century. The painting was torn in 1914 by Canadian suffragist Mary Richardson with a butcher knife.
Venus in the Mirror is a 17th-century masterpiece by the Sevillian artist Velázquez. It depicts the goddess Venus lying on her back, reflected in a mirror held by Cupid. The artwork arrived in the United Kingdom around 1813, during the artistic plundering that occurred during the Spanish War of Independence.
Terea Ribera, the third vice president of the Government and Minister for the Ecological Transition, condemned the attack on social networks. She stated, “I deeply reject this way of demanding commitment on any issue. Nor about climate action. Destruction never helps anyone.”
Protesters shatter glass, demand change
Just Stop Oil revealed that the protesters shattered the glass panel and then announced to the gallery attendees: “Women did not get the vote by voting. It is time for deeds, not words." They added, “Politics is failing us. It failed women in 1914 and it is failing us now."
The police subsequently arrested the two on suspicion of criminal damage. The National Gallery removed the painting from display to allow conservators to inspect it. The museum stated, “The pair seemed to hit 'The Toilet of Venus' ('The Rokeby Venus') by Velázquez using what looked like emergency rescue hammers. Authorities cleared the room of visitors and called the police.”
The museum added that they reopened the room shortly afterwards, hanging another painting where Velázquez used to be.
"This group has not targeted the National Gallery for the first time." In October 2022, two activists from the same organization splashed tomato soup on Vincent Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, also housed in the National Gallery in London. The activists, wearing T-shirts with slogans against oil extraction, approached the painting, opened a can, and threw the contents at it. They then glued their hands to the gallery wall.
Similar incidents occur in other parts of the world. In the Netherlands, authorities arrested several people for throwing tomato sauce near the famous painting Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer, on display in the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague.
In Germany, two individuals launched mashed potatoes at a Claude Monet painting on exhibit in the Barberini Museum in Potsdam, near Berlin. Around the same time, two activists adhered themselves to the frames of Goya’s Las Majas in the Prado Museum in Madrid.
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