Other initiatives have, for example, involved throwing mashed potato at Claude Monet’s Haystacks held at the Museum Barberini in Potsdam, Germany; smashing the glass of Diego Velázquez’s Rokeby Venus, also at the National Gallery in London; a cake literally in the face of Leonardo da Vinci’s heavily protected Mona Lisa at the Louvre; and tomato sauce on the lovely face of Jan Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring at the Mauritshuis in The Hague.
Closer to home, too, there have been similar episodes, for example against Sandro Botticelli’s Primavera at the Uffizi or Umberto Boccioni’s sculpture Unique Forms of Continuity in Space, kept at the Museo del Novecento in Milan.
There follows a series of demonstrative actions involving statues, monuments and historic buildings: Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, the Arco della Pace in Milan and Palazzo Madama in Rome are just some of the targets of these environmentalist ‘performances’ which, while initially causing astonishment, incomprehension and bewilderment and generating mixed reactions, may have lost their symbolic force through repetition, leading the public to lose interest and to a sort of passive acceptance.
Yet the phenomenon seems to be anything but fleeting, to the point that one wonders whether targeting our artistic and monumental heritage is truly useful and right in the fight against climate change. Do the actions of eco-activists work? Are they legitimate, or are they akin to acts of vandalism? Is it really true that the works suffer no damage?
There are many opinions in favour of these young people ready to do anything for a better future, but there are just as many prominent figures who criticise eco-activism carried out at the expense of cultural heritage.
Among the most determined opponents is the Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano, who recently presented to the Senate a bill, approved on 23 November 2023, aimed at toughening the penalties ‘for the destruction, dispersal, deterioration, disfigurement, defacement and unlawful use of cultural or landscape assets’.
The Minister’s aim is, in his own words, to ‘make vandals pay the costs of the work to fully restore the damaged asset’, according to the principle that ‘those who destroy will have to pay out of their own pocket’ [Source: https://www.beniculturali.it/comunicato/25528].
It should indeed be stressed that, although most of the time the protest actions are harmless to the works of art or monuments, they still entail a cost, sometimes a substantial one, to restore the status quo, which is only possible through qualified restorers, after submission of a project. It is therefore true that the Arco della Pace in Milan will return to its former state once the paint is removed, but the operation will have an estimated cost of around 30,000 euros.
Moreover, we are talking about ancient and unique works, which can be almost four hundred years old (as in the case of Girl with a Pearl Earring). Moving them and subjecting them to handling and treatments as a result of the young activists’ protests is in itself a risk to their conservation. Certainly, ecology is a good cause, but is the game worth the candle?
Among those who defend the work of the environmental groups, on the other hand, the name of Tomaso Montanari stands out, art historian and rector of the Università per Stranieri di Siena. In a television interview given to Giovanni Floris on 23 May 2023, he stated that those who consider the activists eco-vandals should reflect on the fact that, unless concrete action is taken against climate change, Venice will disappear under the sea, Rome will have the same temperature as Marrakesh and, at that point, the painted panels in churches will be irreparably ruined.
In his words: ‘the protest of these young people is a finger, but we should be talking about the moon looming over us even if we pretend not to see it. […] It is not the protests that threaten our heritage but climate change, and I believe there is no awareness of this at all’ [Source: https://www.la7.it/dimartedi/video/montanari-chi-e-contro-gli-eco-attivisti-se-gli-dicessero-che-venezia-scomparira-24-05-2023-486749].
Whatever one may think, it is undeniable that the phenomenon of eco-activism is a sign of growing sensitivity to the imminent climate crisis. Until the new generations are guaranteed a better future, we will have to reckon with these provocations which, right or wrong, help to highlight a problem that unfortunately is now deeply rooted on a global level.
