Anti-Oil Activists Who Targeted ‘Girl With A Pearl Earring’ Sentenced To Jail
Photo 240680072 © Younsi . | Dreamstime.com
Two climate change protesters have been sentenced to two months in jail, with one month suspended, for targeting Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring (1665) at the Hague’s Mauritshuis Museum and. A third accomplice is scheduled to appear in court on Friday.
On October 27, one of the Belgian activists was filmed gluing his bald head to its protective glass. Another was seen dousing a can of what looked to be tomato soup over his head.
“How do you feel when you see something beautiful and priceless being apparently destroyed before your very eyes?” the second activist declared. He likened the work’s perceived damage to the way humans have been treating the planet.
Presumably, the third person was the one taking a video of the scene.
Although the individuals were wearing T-shirts printed with the words ‘Just Stop Oil’, the British climate advocacy group whose stunts have made headlines in the past months claims no responsibility for this particular campaign. Just Stop Oil Belgium, the organization that the Belgian offenders are members of, is not associated with the UK coalition of the same name, CNN reports.
Still, a spokesperson for the UK’s Just Stop Oil tells Hyperallergic that it “applaud[s] those ordinary everyday people who refuse to stand by.”
The nearly 360-year-old artwork remains undamaged and on display, since the culprits only aimed for its glass barrier.
It’s rare for such antics to result in jail time. In fact, just recently, when two Just Stop Oil campaigners tossed tomato soup over Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers, they were simply charged with criminal damage and didn’t have to go behind bars.
As per a press statement quoted by CNN, prosecutors explained they hoped the punishment would “send out a signal” to others inspired to pull similar stunts. “An artwork hanging there for everyone, all of us to enjoy, has been smeared by (defendants) who felt their message took precedence over everything else,” they said.
Prosecutors had requested for a four-month sentence, with two months suspended, but the judge reduced this to two months because she did not want to scare other activists away from exercising their right to protest.
[via Hyperallergic and CNN, cover photo 240680072 © Younsi . | Dreamstime.com]
