Protestors from the action group Ultima Generazione glued their hands to the glass covering Botticelli's 'Primavera'. Getty Images
Protestors from the action group Ultima Generazione glued their hands to the glass covering Botticelli's 'Primavera'. Getty Images
Protestors from the action group Ultima Generazione glued their hands to the glass covering Botticelli's 'Primavera'. Getty Images
Protestors from the action group Ultima Generazione glued their hands to the glass covering Botticelli's 'Primavera'. Getty Images

Climate protestors glue themselves to Sandro Botticelli painting in Florence


Farah Andrews
  • English
  • Arabic

A group of climate protestors stuck themselves to the glass protecting a Sandro Botticelli painting in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence on Friday.

The protesters, part of the Ultima Generazione (Last Generation) group, stuck their hands to Botticelli's Primavera (Spring).

The Italian museum said no damage was done to the Renaissance painting.

In a video shared on social media on Friday, the group can be seen holding up a banner reading: "Ultima Generazione, no gas, no carbon."

The three protesters, who paid for tickets to the museum, were reportedly escorted off the premises by police.

"Is it possible to see a spring as beautiful as this today?" Ultima Generazione said in a statement.

"Fires, food crises and drought make it increasingly difficult. We decided to use art to sound an alarm call: we are heading towards a social and climate collapse."

In the video, people can be heard shouting: "Don't touch it," in English.

Primavera is on show in the gallery's Botticelli hall, along with The Birth of Venus.

This is not the first time climate activists have used art to draw attention to their protests.

In May, Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa was the target of an attack in the Louvre, Paris.

A male visitor, disguised as an old lady, tried to smash the glass protecting the famous painting before smearing cream across its surface.

A video posted on social media showed a member of staff cleaning the pane while another attendant removes a wheelchair from in front of the masterpiece.

"Think of the Earth, people are destroying the Earth", the man, dressed in a wig, said in French in another video.

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Updated: July 22, 2022, 1:32 PM