Friday 4 November - This afternoon at Palazzo Bonaparte in Rome, climate activists threw soup against Vincent van Gogh's painting The sower. Then the four young women glued themselves to the wall. The painting is on display at Palazzo Bonaparte on loan from the Kröller-Müller Museum, as part of a Van Gogh exhibition.
The police were called in and the four people have since been arrested.
After the incident, the painting was immediately removed from the room and taken to a safe place to be examined by conservators. It is currently unknown if and to what extent the painting was damaged.
However important the climate message may be, art is defenseless, and actions that could lead to damage, for whatever purpose, the Kröller-Müller Museum strongly rejects.