New hands were briefly added, Thursday morning, to the statuary group of the
Laocoön
, preserved in the Pio-Clementino museum, in the Vatican.
The masterpiece of ancient sculpture representing, arm in arm, the tragic death of the Trojan priest and his two sons, was targeted by two activists from the Italian environmental group Ultima Generazione who glued themselves to the base of the together to call for an end to the exploitation of gas and oil.
The two activists unfurled around 10:30 a.m. a red banner flocked with their demands, to the surprise of visitors to the museum located in the heart of Rome, reports the Italian press agency Ansa.
The security forces of the establishment initially closed the room to the public before arresting the activists and their companions, confiscating - according to the movement - their mobile phones.
Read alsoIn southern Ukraine, safeguard cultural heritage at all costs
Like the previous actions carried out in museums by the activists of Ultima Generazione, the choice to attack the
Laocoön
group is not fortuitous.
"The statue is a reminder of the sad fate of the Greek priest in his attempt to save himself, his children and all citizens
," Laura, an activist, said in a statement released Thursday.
"The statue is a reminder of the sad fate of the Greek priest in his attempt to save himself, his children and all citizens
," Laura, an activist, said in a statement released Thursday.
Ultima Genazione Twitter Account
According to ancient stories, Laocoon had tried, in vain, to warn his fellow Trojans of the danger represented by the gigantic wooden horse presented in front of the impregnable gates of their city.
A warning cry left unanswered.
"Today, thousands of activists are sounding the alarm on the climate, but they too are being ignored and repressed",
notes the movement, by trouncing a
"governmental class more baited by the fossil industry than by the interest general”
.
For the climate, against indifference
Last month, Ultima Generazione carried out its first action in a museum with an action in front of
Le Printemps
de Botticelli, at the Uffizi museum, in Florence.
Two activists had stuck a hand to the glass protecting the work, before being arrested by the
carabinieri
.
The collective claims to have consulted restoration specialists to ensure that their activists would not cause any damage to the work.
Read alsoEnvironmental activists sharpen their weapons to attack French museums
Non-violent, the Italian movement belongs to the international militant network A22.
This is represented in the United Kingdom by the group Just Stop Oil which, at the beginning of the summer, had inaugurated a new mode of militant action consisting in sticking as closely as possible to the works.
Several actions had been carried out, notably at the National Gallery and the Courtauld collection, between the end of June and the beginning of August.
The multiplication of this type of action has also given food for thought to Dernier Rénovation, the French branch of the A22 network.
“What picture should we stick to in France to live up to the climate chaos that is coming?”,
warned the collective in July, leaving doubt between several masterpieces from the Louvre and Orsay.
Questioned by
Le Figaro
, several French museums had confided in closely monitoring these new forms of militant action.
A reaction to make people laugh.
“Museums are not ready
,” commented a Parisian activist.
