Uffizi, acquitted activists who attached flood images to glass of Botticelli's Venus

The case against three Ultima Generazione activists who, on Feb. 13, 2024, had entered the Uffizi and attached images of theCampi Bisenzio flooding that had occurred the previous fall to the protective glass of Botticelli’s Venus, using scotch tape, ended inacquittal. There had been no damage to either the painting or the protective glass. The decision to acquit the three activists, represented by lawyer Luigi Dell’Aquila, was issued by the Court of Florence.

According to Ultima Generazione, the protest was part of the Reparation Fund campaign, an initiative calling for the establishment of a 20-billion-euro fund intended to compensate those affected by the consequences of the climate crisis, including floods and periods of drought. “We taped images on the glass of Botticelli’s Birth of Venus from photos of the flooding in Campi Bisenzio last fall to demand a Reparations Fund for the damages of these climate catastrophes. We are back in action despite the precautionary measures and the risk of going to jail for violating them,” the activists had said after the action.

They were charged with interruption of a public service, participation in an unauthorized demonstration, and violation of a residence permit.

The acquittal, the organization says, is the seventy-fifth for Last Generation’s actions and is “good news” but does not “affect the 20,000-euro fine each received under the eco-vandals decree, which provides penalties of 10,000 to 60,000 euros for those who deface or damage cultural property. A legally useless law: the crime of damage was already punishable under the Criminal Code, but it could not be challenged because the damage had never occurred. So it was decided to punish defacement and therefore also paper tape. A decree tailor-made for us, as Amnesty International denounced, with the sole purpose of criminalizing climate activism: It is not heritage protection: it is repression of dissent.”

The Florence court acquitted the activists, but the 20,000 fine per activist remains.

Uffizi, acquitted activists who attached flood images to glass of Botticelli's Venus

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