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Delacroix’s "Liberty Leading the People" Vandalized and Restored One Day Later

February 9, 2013

Delacroix’s “Liberty Leading the People” (1830) at the
Le Louvre-Lens.

Eugene Delacroix’s masterwork, “Liberty Leading the People” (1830), was defaced on February 7th at the Le Louvre Lens, a satellite museum of the Louvre located in Northern France. According to reports, a 28-year-old woman used a permanent marker to write “AE911” in the lower right hand side of the painting.

Both The Guardian and the Agence France-Press speculate the message refers to the organization Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth, a group calling for an independent investigation into the 9/11 attacks. The painting may have been targeted because of its revolutionary iconography.

The graffiti, measuring only 30 centimeters, was removed the next day. The restoration took two hours and the painting remained hanging on the wall.

The museum is pressing charges against the woman, who was immediately apprehended by museum guards. The police are awaiting a psychological investigation into the woman’s mental health and report that she appears “unstable.” Phillipe Peyroux, the local prosecutor, told the Agence France-Press, “Is this a person who acted under the influence of some kind of frenzy or is it some kind of demand? We are waiting until we are able to find out a little more about this person.”

The case resembles the vandalism of Mark Rothko’s “Black on Maroon” at the Tate Modern in October 2012. Vladimir Umanets, who was sentenced to two years in prison this December, defaced the painting to promote his radical art movement. For our report visit: Rothko Defaced at the Tate Modern.

Sources: Kim Willsher, “Delacroix Painting at Lens Louvre Gallery Defaced with Permanent Marker,” The Guardian, February 8, 2013; Kate Diemling, “Vandalism of ‘Liberty Leading the People’ May be Linked 9/11 Truth Movement,” Artinfo, February 8, 2013. Image source: Agence Frence-Press.

Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only and is not meant to provide legal advice. Readers should not construe or rely on any comment or statement in this article as legal advice. For legal advice, readers should seek a consultation with an attorney.