Bloomberg News
@Bloomberg-News·2.8M subscribers·40.1K videos
Climate Activists Throw Soup on Van Gogh Painting in Rome
Posted
November 4, 2022
Views
2,316
Likes
10
Comments
23
Engagement
1.42%
November 4, 2022
2,316
10
23
1.42%
Every word spoken in this episode is indexed. Type any phrase to jump straight to the moment it was said.
Type any word or phrase that may have been spoken. Click a result to seek the player to that exact moment.
Try a name, a topic, or a quoted line
See what was published immediately before and after this episode.
0:55Now PlayingEnvironmental activists tossed pea soup on a Vincent van Gogh painting Friday in Rome to protest carbon use and natural gas extraction, but caused no damage to the glass-covered painting.
Security intervened immediately and removed the protesters kneeling in front of “The Sower” at the Palazzo Bonaparte to deliver a manifesto.
A spokesperson for the exhibit said they had carried the soup in jars under their clothing into the museum.
Protesters from the same group, the Last Generation, earlier blocked a highway near Rome.
The painting belongs to the Kroller-Muller Museum in the Netherlands and was on loan for a show in Italy's capital featuring works by Van Gogh.
Officials said the 1888 painting was undamaged.
Italy’s new culture minister, Gennaro Sangiuliano, condemned the protest.
“Attacking art is an ignoble act that must be firmly condemned,’’ he said. “Culture, which is the basis of our identity, must be defended and protected, and certainly not used as a megaphone for other forms of protest.”
Climate activists have staged similar protests at museums in Britain, Germany and elsewhere in Italy, targeting works by Van Gogh, Botticelli and Picasso.
The stunt backfired for some onlookers.
“It totally defeats the purpose.'' Hans Bergetoft, a tourist from Stockholm, said. "I'm really for the cause in itself, but not the action. Not the action that they took. Not at all.”
The protesters released a statement later saying they were putting pea soup on Van Gogh's soup to symbolize "the stain of climate collapse that darkens the image of a happy future."
The group said the fields in Van Gogh's painting represent food security and a man who doesn't need to migrate because of drought or floods.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Subscribe to our newest channel Quicktake Explained
Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world.
To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app.
Have a story to tell? Fill out this survey for a chance to have it featured on Bloomberg Quicktake
Connect with us on…
Breaking News on YouTube
Sentinel Indexing in Progress
Metadata and chapters are available. Claim extraction for this episode is pending.
All video content is delivered via YouTube embedded players in accordance with the YouTube Terms of Service. Sentinel provides research tools that promote discovery and accountability across political media.
