Timeline of Art Vandalism: From Michelangelo's Pietà to Climate Protests
A comprehensive overview of notable acts of vandalism against artworks in museums and public spaces, spanning from 1972 to 2022. The article catalogs incidents including László Tóth's hammer attack on Michelangelo's Pietà at St. Peter's Basilica in 1972, the accidental destruction of Qing dynasty vases at the Fitzwilliam Museum in 2006, a punch to Monet's painting at the National Gallery of Ireland in 2012, and selfie-related damages to statues in Italy and Portugal. Recent climate protests by groups like Just Stop Oil, Ultima Generazione, Futuro Vegetal, and Stop Fossil Fuel Subsidies Australia have targeted works by Vermeer, Van Gogh, Goya, Warhol, and Klimt, though most were protected by glass. The article also mentions the 2022 incident where a Russian museum guard drew eyes on a painting by Anna Leporskaya at the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center, and a tourist mistakenly taking an artwork from the Musée Picasso Paris.
Key facts
- László Tóth attacked Michelangelo's Pietà with a hammer on May 21, 1972.
- A tourist destroyed three Qing dynasty vases at the Fitzwilliam Museum in 2006.
- A man punched Monet's 'Le Bassin d'Argenteuil avec un voilier' at the National Gallery of Ireland in 2012.
- Dutch football fans vandalized Bernini's Barcaccia fountain in Rome in 2015.
- A Russian guard drew eyes on Anna Leporskaya's painting at the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center in 2022.
- Climate activists targeted Vermeer's 'Girl with a Pearl Earring' at the Mauritshuis on October 27, 2022.
- Ultima Generazione activists threw vegetable soup at Van Gogh's 'The Sower' in Rome on November 4, 2022.
- Activists glued themselves to Goya's 'Maja desnuda' and 'Maja vestida' at the Prado on November 5, 2022.
Entities
Artists
- Michelangelo
- László Tóth
- Claude Monet
- Gian Lorenzo Bernini
- Anna Leporskaya
- Oriol Vilanova
- Guido Reni
- Johannes Vermeer
- Vincent van Gogh
- Francisco de Goya
- Andy Warhol
- Gustav Klimt
- Yayoi Kusama
- Antonio Canova
Institutions
- Musei Vaticani
- Basilica di San Pietro
- Fitzwilliam Museum
- National Gallery of Ireland
- British Museum
- Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna
- Galleria Borghese
- Museo Mauritshuis
- Palazzo Bonaparte
- Kröller-Müller Museum
- Museo del Prado
- National Gallery of Australia
- Leopold Museum
- Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center
- Musée Picasso Paris
- Gypsotheca di Canova
- Accademia delle Belle Arti di Brera
- Hirshhorn Museum
- Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga
- Ultima Generazione
- Extinction Rebellion
- Just Stop Oil
- Futuro Vegetal
- Stop Fossil Fuel Subsidies Australia
- Last Generation
- Artribune
Locations
- Rome
- Italy
- Vatican City
- Cambridge
- United Kingdom
- Dublin
- Ireland
- London
- Bologna
- The Hague
- Netherlands
- Madrid
- Spain
- Canberra
- Australia
- Vienna
- Austria
- Ekaterinburg
- Russia
- Paris
- France
- Possagno
- Cremona
- Lisbon
- Portugal
- Washington, D.C.
- United States
- Los Angeles
- Piazza di Spagna
- Casamicciola
- Ischia