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LONDON, 6 Nov (AP) \u2014 Two climate change protesters were arrested Monday after they smashed a protective glass panel covering a famous Diego Vel\u00e1zquez oil painting at London\u2019s National Gallery, police said Monday.<\/p>\n
The two activists from the group Just Stop Oil targeted Vel\u00e1zquez\u2019s \u201cThe Toilet of Venus,\u201d also known as \u201cThe Rokeby Venus,\u201d with small hammers. Photos showed the protective glass panel punctured with several holes.<\/p>\n
Just Stop Oil, which has previously led similar protests targeting famous artworks and public buildings, said Monday\u2019s action was to demand Britain\u2019s government immediately halt all licensing for the exploration, development and production of fossil fuels in the U.K.<\/p>\n
The group said Monday that the two activists chose to target Vel\u00e1zquez\u2019s 17th-century oil painting, one of the Spanish artist\u2019s most celebrated masterpieces, because it was previously slashed as part of the suffragette movement calling for women\u2019s rights in 1914.<\/p>\n
Just Stop Oil said the protesters hammered the glass panel, then told people at the gallery: \u201cWomen did not get the vote by voting. It is time for deeds, not words.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPolitics is failing us. It failed women in 1914 and it is failing us now,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n
Police said the two were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage. The National Gallery said the painting has been removed from display so conservators can examine it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pair appeared to strike \u2018The Toilet of Venus\u2019 (\u2018The Rokeby Venus\u2019) by Vel\u00e1zquez with what appeared to be emergency rescue hammers. The room was cleared of visitors and police were called,\u201d the museum said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The room was reopened shortly afterward with another painting replacing the Vel\u00e1zquez where it was hung, the museum added.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Toilet of Venus\u201d depicts a naked Venus, the goddess of love, reclining on a bed with her back facing the viewer, as her son Cupid holds a mirror up to her face.<\/p>\n
The painting was targeted in 1914 by the suffragette Mary Richardson to protest the imprisonment of fellow women\u2019s rights activist Emmeline Pankhurst. The painting suffered several slashes at the time but was subsequently repaired.<\/p>\n
Police said officers also arrested dozens of other Just Stop Oil protesters on Monday who were \u201cslow marching\u201d and obstructing traffic in central London\u2019s Whitehall as part of their civil disobedience strategy.<\/p>\n
Last year two activists threw two cans of tomato soup over Vincent van Gogh\u2019s \u201cSunflowers,\u201d also at the National Gallery, to protest fossil fuel extraction. They did not damage the painting, which was covered with glass.<\/p>\n
Part of a wave of youthful direct-action protest groups around the world, Just Stop Oil is backed by the U.S.-based Climate Emergency Fund, set up to support disruptive environmental protests.<\/p>\n
Just Stop Oil activists have repeatedly staged multiple high-profile protests at the busiest highways and roads as well as sports tournaments.<\/p>\n
In July, British authorities expanded police power allowing them to target activists who stop traffic and to move static protests.<\/p>\n
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LONDON, 6 Nov (AP) \u2014 Two climate change protesters were arrested Monday after they smashed a protective glass panel covering a famous Diego Vel\u00e1zquez oil painting at London\u2019s National Gallery, police said Monday. The two activists from the group Just Stop Oil targeted Vel\u00e1zquez\u2019s \u201cThe Toilet of Venus,\u201d also known as \u201cThe Rokeby Venus,\u201d with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-227955","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227955\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}