Climate activists have again attacked a work of art in protest: According to the Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague, two activists today stuck themselves to Johannes Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring” and the adjacent wall, while a third person stuck an “unknown substance” on the famous one painting poured.
Fortunately, the painting was behind glass and remained undamaged, the museum said.
Footage posted online showed activists in Just Stop Oil shirts shouting, “How are you feeling?” Museum visitors reacted angrily and cursed “shame” and “you are stupid”. The police reported three arrests.
Museum: Art is defenseless
According to the museum, the attack began around 2 p.m. One person glued his head to the glass in front of the Vermeer painting, another glued his hand to the green wall next to it, and a third threw the substance.
“Art is defenseless and we condemn in the strongest terms any attempt to damage it for any reason,” the Mauritshuis declared.
The entrance to the room where “Girl with a Pearl Earring” normally hangs was blocked by a large reproduction of an oil painting in the afternoon. According to a security guard, it will likely remain closed for the rest of the day. According to the museum, Vermeer’s famous picture will be exhibited again “as soon as possible”.