Picture poured with sulfuric acid 5 letters scanword. Defeating Acid
June 15, 1985 48-year-old unemployed from Kaunas Bronius Maygis visited the Hermitage and went down in history. The future patient of a psychiatric clinic with a diagnosis of "sluggish schizophrenia" was distinguished from other visitors by the fact that he brought a knife and a jar of sulfuric acid with him to the museum. Before dousing Rembrandt's Danae, he hit the painting twice with a knife. According to some eyewitnesses, the act of vandalism was accompanied by cries of "Freedom to Lithuania!". However, this testimony cannot be considered reliable, as well as reports that the man also planned to set up an explosion.
Despite the fact that the rescue of the painting began immediately and by the evening the restorers stopped chemical reaction, the central part of the picture, the figure of Danae, was badly damaged. The acid left in colorful layer deep marks. The fragment depicting the drapery on the legs was almost completely destroyed.
It took 12 years to restore the painting. After the attack, experts suggested placing the original in storage and displaying a copy in the museum. However, in 1997, the canvas by Rembrandt was again exhibited in the Hermitage, but under armored glass. AiF.ru talks about the secrets of the painting that Maygis almost destroyed.
Where did the golden shower go?
Rembrandt painted "Danaus" from 1636 to 1647. The masterpiece is based on ancient greek myth. Danae was the daughter of the king of the city of Argos Acrisia. According to legend, the latter was to die at the hands of his grandson. To prevent this, the ruler imprisoned his daughter in a dungeon and assigned a maid to her. The girl would have spent her whole life in a dungeon if she had not been noticed god Zeus, which entered the room in the form of golden rain. After meeting with the deity, Danae gave birth to a son, Perseus, who later fulfilled the prophecy.
The legend was quite a popular subject among painters. For example, he was approached by such famous artists as Titian, Correggio, Gossaert And Klimt. The main difference between Rembrandt's painting and its predecessors was that he did not depict Zeus in the painting. The traditionally falling golden rain, which the artists painted with ocher, was replaced by the Dutchman in the latest version of the painting with golden light breaking through the canopy.
Art historians recognize that Rembrandt's genius developed in ascending order, and last works artist are unique. The artist is attracted by the moments of the most powerful human experiences, so the paintings last period Rembrandt's works - "Artaxerxes, Haman and Esther" (1660), "The Denial of the Apostle Peter" (1660), "The Return prodigal son"(1666/1669)," Jewish Bride "(1665) - filled with dramatic tension.
A wife with the traits of a mistress
Another mystery that has tormented art critics for a long time is why Danae's face does not look like the face of Rembrandt's wife. Saskia, who was his muse and died just eight years after the wedding. The artist often used her as a model. "Danae" Rembrandt began to write two years after they got married, which means that he did not write from memory.
In 1956-1962, the canvas was studied using fluoroscopy. It turned out that the artist changed the picture after the death of his wife. Historians say that the painter decided to take this step because of the scandal that one of his mistresses gave him. Gert Dirks who was jealous of his late wife. After a quarrel, Rembrandt changed the hairstyle, facial expression, the position of the arms and legs, as well as the lighting of Danae's body. It should be noted that the affair with Dirks did not last long. The affair ended when she demanded that famous artist married her. The latter refused, and he was ordered to pay compensation to his mistress. Despite financial assistance, Dirks ended up in prison a year later.
No regret
However, all these facts of the artist's biography were unknown to Maigis, who hardly graduated from the fourth grade of the school. The Leningrad court issued a guilty verdict on August 26, 1985. The man was released from criminal liability, as he was recognized as mentally ill. For some time, the man was treated in a psychiatric clinic in Leningrad, and then was sent to his homeland. He was released from the hospital rather quickly, as Lithuania became an independent state. ABOUT future fate little is known about this man. However, he hardly regretted what he had done.
“I personally consider myself a healthy person. I do not feel any regret that I destroyed a masterpiece of world significance. It means that he was poorly guarded and protected, if I managed to do it so relatively easily, ”Maigis told one of the Lithuanian newspapers.
Exactly 25 years ago, on June 15, 1985 in the Hermitage, Rembrandt's Danae was attacked by a madman who doused the canvas with sulfuric acid and stabbed twice.
January 13, 1913 in Moscow, in the Tretyakov Gallery, an act of vandalism was committed: a certain Abram Balashov shouted "Enough blood! Down with blood!" cut famous painting Ilya Efimovich Repin "Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan November 16, 1581" The picture was saved thanks to the efforts of the restorers and the artist himself, who rushed on a call from his dacha in Finland.
In February 1914, suffragette Mary Richardson cut several pieces of Velasquez's Venus with a Mirror at the London National Gallery. For damaging the painting, Richardson was sentenced to 6 months in prison. After the restoration, the painting again took its place in one of the halls of the gallery.
Most often they encroach on the works of Rembrandt. The great Dutchman seems to attract people with an unbalanced psyche. They are especially attracted by Rembrandt's masterpiece The Night Watch, written in 1642.
14 (1) January 1911 in state museum Amsterdam, the painting was damaged by knife blows. The culprit was arrested.
On September 14, 1975, at the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum, a former school teacher, a mentally ill Dutchman, Wilhelmus de Rink, inflicted 12 cuts on Rembrandt's masterpiece with a bread knife. This was already the second attack on one of the most famous creations of world art.
In 1990, acid was splashed on the painting, damaging the varnish layer.
In 1977, acid was poured over several works by old masters in the Staatsgalerie in Kassel, including two by Rembrandt.
On June 15, 1985, Rembrandt's Danae was attacked in the Hermitage by a madman who doused the canvas with sulfuric acid and stabbed twice. The vandal turned out to be a resident of Lithuania, Bronyus Maigis, who explained his act with political motives. The most important and most delicate parts in terms of picturesque performance suffered the most because of the action of the acid, but thanks to the work of the museum's specialists, "Danae" was brought back to life. Work to save the masterpiece ended 12 years later, in 1997.
In December 1956, in the Louvre, a young Bolivian named Hugo Ungaza Villegas, in a fit of inexplicable anger, launched a stone into the world-famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci "Mona Lisa" ("Gioconda") with a stone and injured the beauty's left elbow. Since then, the Mona Lisa's left elbow has had a barely noticeable mark. She has been attacked several times. The last attempt was made in 1974, when a Japanese tourist threw a bottle of paint at the Mona Lisa. Fortunately, the protective glass saved the masterpiece. After this incident, the painting was placed in a special box made of bulletproof glass. It is filled with helium, which allows you to create the perfect "atmosphere" for the preservation of the masterpiece. Only once a year, restorers see "La Gioconda" "live" when they examine the painting.
In 1987, a double attempt was made on the work of the American abstract artist Barnett Newman in the Dutch Stedelijk Museum. The maniac cut the painting "Who's Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue III" with a knife. He was caught, he served time, left - and again went to the museum, where he cut another painting by Newman. As it became known, the reason for his hostility to abstractionism was the critical monograph read by the criminal about contemporary art. The terrorist liked the author's ideas so much that he decided to bring them to life - and went to the museum. By a special decree of the Dutch authorities, the maniac was denied access to all museums in the country.
In 1988, three paintings by Albrecht Dürer were damaged by acid in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich. The offender was found and sent to a psychiatric clinic. It turned out to be Hans-Joachim Bohlmann, who committed this act of vandalism after his release from prison, where he spent five months.
He "became famous" for the fact that in 1970-1980. caused material damage to art for 270 million marks, pouring acid on a total of 56 paintings and drawings, including several world-class masterpieces, including an old church altar and paintings by Rembrandt and Dürer. His favorite technique was to splash sulfuric acid on the paintings. Bohlmann was convicted three times for hating art: in 1988 in Munich he was sentenced to two years imprisonment followed by detention in a psychiatric clinic, after a second sentence in 1990 he was sent to a psychiatric hospital in Hamburg.
On January 4, 1997, in the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Russian artist Alexander Brener mutilated Kazimir Malevich's painting "Suprematism", on which he painted a dollar sign with green spray paint. Brener received a five-month prison sentence plus five months probation by court order.
On January 21, 1998, at the Matisse exhibition in the Capitoline Museum in Rome, museum guards discovered damage to three paintings made by a sharp object. Two of them are from the collection of the National Gallery in Washington and from private collection- suffered seriously, in the painting "Standing Zora" ("Moroccan Woman") from the Hermitage, under the right foot, depicted by Matisse of the girl, there was a small trace, no more than 4 cm. It is believed that one of the visitors pierced the painting with a pencil. Just like that, with nothing to do.
In June 2006, an elderly man doused a painting with a caustic substance artist XVII century Bartholomeus van der Helst "Banquet on the occasion of the conclusion of the Peace of Münster 1648" from the collection of the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum ( Royal Museum, Rijksmuseum). The perpetrator was arrested by the police. Serious damage to the painting was not done, only the layer of varnish that covered the canvas was damaged.
In April 2007, in one of the museums in the city of Milwaukee (Minnesota, USA), a visitor to the museum damaged the canvas "The Triumph of David" Italian master Ottavio Vannini, dated 1640. The man, seeing the picture, hit it with his fist, breaking a large hole; then, having torn off the canvas from the wall, he began to trample it with his feet. In his defense, the American, who was detained at the scene of the crime, said that he "was very upset and furious at the sight of Goliath." Museum security did not have time to intervene and save the canvas.
On the night of October 7, 2007, unknown people entered one of central museums Paris - the Musée d'Orsay and mutilated Monet's painting "The Bridge at Argenteuil" in 1874. An alarm went off, and, while running away, one of them hit the painting, leaving a hole about 10 cm long in it. The attackers were found thanks to the video recording of surveillance cameras and rubbish left by hooligans.
One of the detainees admitted that he was able to alcohol intoxication hit the picture with his fist. The suspects - four young men and one girl aged 18-19 years - living in the Parisian suburbs.
On May 16, 2008, Timur Serebrykov, a former security guard at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, cut open "Night Sky #2" by Latvian-American artist Vija Celmins with a key. Art Museum Carnegie. The cost of the canvas was estimated at 1.2 million dollars.
According to the lawyer, Serebryukov's actions did not include political motives He just "didn't like" the picture. The museum spent $5,000 to restore the painting. According to museum staff, the cost of the canvas after restoration work has decreased by 240 thousand dollars.
On August 2, 2009, a tourist from Russia threw a ceramic mug at Leonardo da Vinci's famous Mona Lisa painting. The mug broke on the protective screen. The Russian woman was sent to the police station, then released. The reason for such an extravagant trick, according to one of the versions, was that the French authorities refused the Russian woman to obtain citizenship.
Material prepared on the basis of information open sources
We recall cases of art vandalism.
Yesterday, June 15, it was exactly thirty years since the Hermitage notable work Rembrandt's Danae was doused with sulfuric acid. Unfortunately, this is far from the only case damage to works of art.
"Saint Anne with Mary, the Christ Child and John the Baptist" by Leonardo da Vinci
In 1987 in National Gallery London shot at the picture. Robert Cambridge, who fired the shot, said that this was his way of expressing his dissatisfaction with the "political, social and economic situation in the UK."
Night Watch, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn
This painting by Rembrandt gained fans not only among art connoisseurs, but also among vandals: the painting was spoiled three times. The first incident occurred in 1911. The man tried to pounce on the canvas with a knife, but the knife did not go through a thick layer of paint. The next act of vandalism happened to the painting in 1975. A teacher named William de Rijk carried out the idea of his "predecessor" and nevertheless hit the picture with a knife. According to the teacher, he was prompted to this act by the voice of the Lord he heard.
And in 1990 The night Watch” suffered the fate of the already mentioned “Danai”: the painting was doused with sulfuric acid.
Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan, Ilya Repin
In the history of the picture, the icon painter Ivan Balashov was literally noted. In 1913 while visiting Tretyakov Gallery at young man there was a seizure - Balashov was mentally ill - and with cries of "Enough blood!" he cut the famous canvas. Thanks to talented restorers, the painting was restored in its original form.
Venus with a Mirror, Diego Velasquez
1914 became fatal for the famous creation of Velasquez. Suffragette (participant in the movement against discrimination against women) Mary Richardson with a meat ax dealt seven blows to the picture. Richardson stated that she tried to destroy the image "most beautiful woman in mythological history" as a protest against the arrest of Mrs. Pankhurst (British political activist), a woman "of the most valiant character". Mary Richardson also stressed that she was also annoyed by “the way men stare at naked Venus.”
"Mona Lisa", Leonardo da Vinci
The famous painting is one of the most protected works of art in the world. Now. And before the picture was placed under bulletproof glass, she survived as many as four attacks. In 1956, a tourist threw a rock at the painting and slightly scratched the canvas; later, in the same year, a stone was thrown at the picture again; in 1974, they tried to douse the Mona Lisa with paint, and, finally, in 1977, a Russian tourist threw a souvenir mug from the Louvre at the Mona Lisa.
"The Gulf", Helen Frankenthalen
The painting was ruined in 2006 by a schoolboy who simply stuck gum on a canvas worth over a million dollars. The restorers scraped off the chewing gum, but especially attentive fans of Frankenthal's work say that the speck on the "Gulf" still remains.
Phaedra, Cy Twombly
Of all the options for damaging paintings, Twombly's work got the most pleasant - in 2007, the artist Rindy Sam kissed the picture. Sam's lipstick - to the envy of makeup lovers - turned out to be super-resistant: the restorers used 30 chemicals, and none of them erased the traces of a kiss. Rindy Sam does not consider his act vandalism; according to her, she kissed the painting to express her sympathy.
"Woman in a Red Armchair", Pablo Picasso
In 2012, 22-year-old student Uriel Landeros made his “changes” to the picture. Using a stencil and spray paint, he left on the canvas the inscription “Conquista” (translated from Spanish - conquest, capture) and the image of a bull and a bullfighter. Later, Landeros posted his video message on Youtube, in which he stated that he did not want to destroy the painting and lamented that "our society has become corrupted, thirsty for war, killing and raping"
"Black on Brown", Mark Rothko
Contributed to the history of damage to paintings and Russian artist Vladimir Umanets, leaving his signature on the painting by Mark Roth. Umanets not only did not repent of his act, but also repeatedly stated in the media that he increased the cost of the painting with his signature.
"Liberty Leading the People" Eugene Delacroix
Apparently, the black marker replaced the fashion for knives among the vandals. It was with a black marker that the last known “crime” against the painting was committed - a visitor to the Louvre branch in Lance left the signature “AE911” on the painting. It was probably referring to Architects and Engineers for the September 2001 Truth, an organization pushing for an investigation into the biggest terrorist attack in history that took place in New York.
Text: Alesya Sidnenko
