The Rest room of Venus, also referred to as “The Rokeby Venus”, by Diego Velázquez, was attacked at London’s Nationwide Gallery in the present day. The portray, created between 1647 and 1651, is likely one of the most celebrated masterpieces within the gallery’s assortment, and was introduced to establishment by the Nationwide Artwork Collections Fund (now the Artwork Fund) in 1906 after the charity ran a extremely publicised fund-raising marketing campaign to amass the portray and stop its being offered overseas.
The work, which depicts the Roman goddess Venus mendacity along with her again dealing with the viewer, was focused by two members of the local weather activist group Simply Cease Oil. The group shared footage of the assault on their account on X, previously often known as Twitter, and say they’re attempting to protest towards the awarding of recent oil and gasoline licenses within the UK.
The portray was famously attacked by the suffragette Mary Richardson on 10 March 1914, leaving seven deep gashes on the canvas, and was subsequently totally restored.
A spokesperson for the Nationwide Gallery mentioned in the present day in an announcement: “At simply earlier than 11am this morning [6 November 2023] two folks entered Room 30 of the Nationwide Gallery.
“The pair appeared to strike The Rest room of Venus (“The Rokeby Venus”) (1647-1651) by Velázquez with what seemed to be emergency rescue hammers.”
They added: “The room was cleared of tourists and police had been known as. Officers at the moment are on the scene. Two folks have been arrested.
“The portray is now being faraway from show so it may be examined by conservators.”
