(CNN) — Anti-fossil fuel protesters threw soup on Vincent van Gogh’s famous 1888 painting “Sunflowers” at the National Gallery in London on Friday.
Two young women from the Just Stop Oil campaign group dumped the contents of two cans of Heinz tomato soup onto the painting, which the group says is worth an estimated $84.2 million.
In a statement posted on Twitter, the National Gallery confirmed the incident in Room 43, where ‘Sunflowers’ was on display, and updated its status.
“There is some minor damage to the frame, but the painting is unharmed,” the gallery said. In a subsequent tweet, the gallery explained that the painting had glass and was therefore protected.
The London Metropolitan Police confirmed that they were responding to the incident and that the protesters had been arrested on suspicion of “criminal damage and aggravated trespass”.
Friday’s incident is the latest in a series of protests once morest famous works of art in a bid to draw attention to the role of fossil fuels in climate change. In July, members of Just Stop Oil glued themselves to a copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” at the Royal Academy of Art in London.
The same month, activists from the group latched onto a masterpiece in the National Gallery, while members of an Italian climate activist organization latched onto Botticelli’s “Primavera” in Florence.
The London Metropolitan Police confirmed that they were responding to the incident and that the protesters had been arrested on suspicion of “criminal damage and aggravated trespass”.
Activists with @JustStop_Oil have thrown tomato soup on Van Gogh’s Sunflowers at the national Gallery and glued themselves to the wall. pic.twitter.com/M8YP1LPTOU
— Damien Gayle (@damiengayle) October 14, 2022
Friday’s incident is the latest in a series of protests once morest famous works of art in a bid to draw attention to the role of fossil fuels in climate change. In July, members of Just Stop Oil glued themselves to a copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” at the Royal Academy of Art in London.
The same month, activists from the group latched onto a masterpiece in the National Gallery, while members of an Italian climate activist organization latched onto Botticelli’s “Primavera” in Florence.
