Our planet is dying a slow death and several activists are raising their voice in outrage against it. In a similar episode, a climate change protestor glued his head to Johannes Vermeer’s iconic ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ painting at The Hague’s Mauritshuis museum. Another activist who was accompanying him further glued his hand to the wall next to the painting while pouring a can of tomato soup over his accomplice’s head. In a video of the scene that has gone viral on Twitter, the two men donning “Just Stop Oil” t-shirts can be seen ranting about climate change.
One of them asked, “How do you feel when you see something beautiful and priceless being apparently destroyed before your very eyes? Do you feel outraged? Good.” He went on to say, “That is that same feeling when you see the planet being destroyed before our very eyes.”
BREEK – Meisje met de parel van Johannes Vermeer besmeurd in #Mauritshuis. pic.twitter.com/XzAZTOoBv9
— Steven Bakker (@Kolpen) October 27, 2022
Luckily though, the painting was unharmed. Remarking on it, the museum said, “The police were notified and three people have been arrested. The condition of the painting was inspected by our restorer. Fortunately, the glass-covered masterwork was not damaged.”
The two men were arrested later by the police. This, however, isn’t the first-time climate activists have tried to vandalize paintings in protest. Earlier this month, climate protesters threw mashed potatoes at Claude Monet’s “Haystacks” in a German museum while a troupe of activists also threw a can of Heinz tomato soup over Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” in the National Gallery.
