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Art is designed to evoke emotions, but some individuals react in extreme ways. For instance, those with Stendhal syndrome may suffer from anxiety, disorientation, nausea, hallucinations, or even temporary insanity when confronted with powerful art.
Individuals with this condition often feel overpowered by what they see as extraordinary beauty. In Florence, medical professionals frequently attend to visitors who are overwhelmed by Michelangelo’s masterpiece, David.
It’s not only those with Stendhal syndrome who are moved by art. Many disgruntled artists and political activists have also responded to artworks, often by attempting to damage or destroy them.
Below, we explore 10 renowned pieces of art that have fallen victim to vandalism.
10. Rokeby Venus by Diego Velazquez
In 1914, suffragette Mary Richardson attacked the Rokeby Venus with a meat cleaver while it was displayed at the National Gallery in London. The artwork sustained multiple deep cuts. Richardson’s act was a protest against the arrest of Emmeline Pankhurst, earning her the nickname “Slasher Mary” in the media.
Richardson claimed her actions were not only to highlight Pankhurst’s arrest but also to challenge the way male viewers ogled the painting. The Rokeby Venus depicts a nude woman facing away from the artist, her back prominently displayed.
The painting’s subject has a strikingly realistic quality, particularly her lower body, which seems almost tangible. The woman gazes back at the viewer through a mirror, creating a sense of being observed while observing, as if the viewer is caught in the act of voyeurism.
The artwork has been meticulously restored, with only faint remnants of the vandalism visible today.
9. The Fall of the Damned by Peter Paul Rubens
Painted by Rubens in 1620, The Fall of the Damned portrays the descent of rebellious angels from Heaven into Hell. This massive piece, spanning over 2.9 meters (9 ft) in height and 2.2 meters (7 ft) in width, features numerous figures—both human and angelic—plummeting through the air in various states of undress toward the fiery abyss below.
In 1959, the painting was targeted with acid. The perpetrator argued that the acid itself did the destructive work, likening it to a tool that eliminates the need for direct action—a chilling justification for the act.
The reason behind the attack on The Fall of the Damned remains unclear, but restorers have relied on Rubens’s initial sketches to reconstruct the damaged sections. Despite their efforts, the acid caused irreversible harm, melting through the paint and leaving lasting scars on the masterpiece.
8. Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci
The Mona Lisa has faced multiple acts of vandalism over the years. In 1956 alone, it was attacked twice—first with acid and later with a thrown rock.
In a more recent incident, a Russian woman, upset after being denied French citizenship, threw a cup at the painting. Fortunately, the Louvre had taken precautions. Protected by bulletproof glass, the world’s most valuable painting remained unharmed as the empty cup shattered harmlessly against the barrier.
7. Ivan the Terrible and His Son by Ilya Repin
Ivan the Terrible and His Son is one of Russia’s most iconic yet contentious paintings. It portrays the infamous tsar holding his mortally wounded son, his face etched with anguish and despair. The horror may stem from the fact that Ivan, driven by paranoia, was responsible for his son’s death.
In May 2018, a man, intoxicated after consuming a significant amount of vodka, attacked the painting. He seized a metal pole used for barrier ropes and charged at the artwork, shattering the protective glass and tearing the canvas.
Fortunately, the pole missed the central portion of the painting. The motive behind the attack remains unclear, though it may be linked to the long-standing controversy surrounding the artwork in Russia, where many nationalists challenge the widely accepted narrative about Tsar Ivan IV Vasilyevich.
Upon his arrest, the suspect allegedly confessed to the police, “I intended to leave, but after drinking 100 grams of vodka, I felt overwhelmed by something.” Indeed, that would explain his actions.
This isn’t the first instance of the painting being targeted. The artist personally restored it after it was vandalized in 1913. According to gallery reports, the artwork can be repaired, though the process will take several years.
6. La Berceuse by Vincent van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh started painting La Berceuse just days before the infamous incident where he severed his own ear. He finished the artwork after recovering in the hospital.
The artwork portrays a woman seated in a rocking chair, holding a rope that sways an invisible cradle. During his stay in the hospital, van Gogh became fixated on this painting, even singing lullabies to the imagined child in his delirious state.
Van Gogh produced five versions of this painting. One of them, while on loan to Amsterdam’s Municipal Museum, was vandalized with three slashes by a man who identified himself as an artist. His reasons for attacking the artwork remain unknown.
This isn’t the first time van Gogh’s work has been targeted by disgruntled individuals. In 1978, at the Van Gogh Museum, a visitor carved a large “X” across the face of the famous Self Portrait with Grey Felt Hat. Although the painting was restored, traces of the damage are still visible, particularly from certain angles.
Similar to van Gogh, the vandal was declared mentally unstable and committed to a psychiatric facility.
5. Argenteuil Basin with a Single Sailboat by Claude Monet
In 2012, Andrew Shannon visited the National Gallery of Ireland alongside numerous other visitors. However, unlike the others, he struck Monet’s masterpiece, Argenteuil Basin with a Single Sailboat. Painted in 1874, the artwork depicts a sailboat on a lake near Paris, where Monet once lived and even transformed a boat into a floating studio.
Shannon was captured on CCTV sprinting toward the painting and punching a hole through it. Valued at $10 million, the artwork suffered significant damage. He claimed his actions were to “get back at the state,” though his reasoning remained unclear.
The restoration of the painting took 18 months to complete.
Shannon, a disheartened artist, may have found an unlikely sympathizer in Monet. In 1908, Monet destroyed several of his own works just before their exhibition, dissatisfied with their quality.
4. The Night Watch by Rembrandt
Rembrandt’s The Night Watch, painted in 1642, captures soldiers preparing for their night watch under the supervision of their officers. The artwork is celebrated for its masterful use of light and shadow. In 1975, while displayed in an Amsterdam museum, a man armed with a bread knife attacked the painting, slashing it repeatedly.
The vandal inflicted over a dozen cuts, primarily on the lower section of the massive canvas. He continued his assault with one hand while using the other to fend off a security guard. A central portion of the canvas was completely torn away. The attacker reportedly told onlookers he acted “for the Lord.” The man, known to have a history of mental illness, was eventually restrained.
In a unique move, the museum announced that the restoration would take place in the public gallery where the painting is usually displayed. Visitors will have the chance to observe the restoration process live. The work is scheduled to begin in July 2019, marking 350 years since Rembrandt’s death.
3. Girl with Balloon (also known as Love Is In The Bin) by Banksy
In 2004, the mysterious graffiti artist Banksy produced a piece titled Girl with Balloon. The artwork was encased in an elaborate and unusually weighty frame.
The purpose of the heavy frame was revealed during its sale in October 2018. Hidden within the frame was a shredding mechanism. As the hammer fell, marking the sale of the $1.3 million painting, someone activated the device.
A video later released by Banksy suggests he was present at the auction. As the audience applauded the sale, he pressed a button on a remote control, activating the shredder. The painting descended from the frame, and two-thirds of it was instantly shredded.
However, as the artist revealed, the shredder did not work as planned. Rather than completely destroying the artwork, it stopped midway, leaving the painting partially shredded and hanging like costly fringe beneath the frame.
The buyer remained undeterred. She expressed satisfaction with the altered piece, now titled Love is in the Bin, and proceeded to complete the purchase, taking it home.
A Sotheby’s spokesperson, likely embarrassed, stated: “The updated story is that Banksy didn’t destroy a piece on our premises—he created a new one, enhancing its value rather than diminishing it. It’s a different work from the one in the catalog, but it’s still an intentional artistic creation, not a ruined painting.”
2. The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and St. John the Baptist by Leonardo da Vinci
Created around 1510, The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and St. John the Baptist (also known as The Burlington House Cartoon) depicts St. Anne with the Virgin Mary, along with Christ and John the Baptist as children. This piece is thought to be a preparatory sketch for a painting that was never realized. Rendered in charcoal and chalk, the artwork is exceptionally delicate.
In 1987, the drawing was attacked by Robert Cambridge, who fired a sawed-off shotgun at it from a distance of 2.1 meters (7 ft). He informed authorities that his actions were a protest against the “political, social, and economic conditions in Britain.”
Cambridge smuggled the shotgun into the gallery under his coat. While the protective glass absorbed most of the blast, the impact created a 15-centimeter (6 in) hole in the Virgin Mary’s dress. Cambridge was found not guilty of vandalism due to insanity and was sent to a psychiatric facility.
The artwork, valued at $35 million at the time, suffered extensive damage. Restorers painstakingly gathered and reassembled the tiny fragments of paper, though much of the damage is no longer visible.
1. Guernica by Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso’s Guernica, a powerful depiction of the Nazi bombing of the Spanish town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War, is hailed as a modern masterpiece. In 1974, while on loan to the Museum of Modern Art from Picasso, Tony Shafrazi defaced the painting by spray-painting “Kill Lies All” in 0.3-meter (1 ft) tall letters across its surface.
Shafrazi boldly announced his name to shocked bystanders, even spelling it out for those who might inform the press. When questioned about his actions, he reportedly responded, “I’m an artist, and I wanted to tell the truth.”
Museum staff quickly secured the area, and restoration experts worked to remove the red spray paint. The graffiti was cleaned off within an hour, leaving no permanent damage. The protective varnish on the painting prevented the spray paint from penetrating, allowing it to be wiped away easily.
It was later suggested that Shafrazi’s act was a response to the pardon of a US army officer involved in the 1968 My Lai massacre, an attempt to give the painting “a new voice,” or a combination of both.
