BOLOGNA – Environmentalists who in recent weeks have targeted works and museums of global importance (such as Van Gogh’s The Sower in Rome, or a Warhol work in Florence, just to name a few) have today chosen Bologna and the National Pinacoteca. Shortly before noon, five activists of the ‘Last generation’ movement reached the room where the canvas of the ‘Massacre of the Innocents’ by Guido Reni ( from 1611) in front of which two young people poured themselves red liquid, “representation of the blood of the innocent victims of climatic collapse”. Three other demonstrators pasted an image of Casamicciola after the landslide with the caption “Massacre of the innocents” on a wall next to the painting, reporting the names of the very young victims of the disaster. On the same wall they wrote: “Ischia, Italian Government 2022”.
In a note in which they claim responsibility for the gesture, the activists explain that ‘the requests of the movement are to immediately stop the reopening of the decommissioned coal plants and cancel the project for new drilling for the search and extraction of natural gas; to increase solar and wind energy by at least 20 GW in the current year, and create thousands of new jobs in renewable energy, helping workers in the fossil fuel industry to find employment in more sustainable jobs.’
The group, according to what was reconstructed by the carabinieri – who intervened with various patrols – entered the Pinacoteca around 11, regularly paying the ticket. After having smeared the wall with writings, also reporting the names of some young victims who lost their lives in Ischia, they sprinkled themselves with tomato puree and, each activist, glued one hand to the floor with glue. 118 also intervened on the spot. Once the military made them get up, the demonstrators were identified, they come from different regions, and will be reported, at the moment according to the first information, for disfigurement. The materials and posters they had with them were confiscated.
