Two environmental activists were convicted of aggravated damages by a Vatican court and ordered to pay more than €28,148 in restitution after gluing their hands to an ancient statue in the papal museums during a climate change protest last August.
On August 18, Guido Viero and Ester Goffi, members of the environmental activist group Ultima Generazione (Last Generation), glued their hands to the base of the “Laocoön and His Sons” statue and held up a pink banner that read “Last Generation: No Gas and carbon-free” in Italian. Activist Laura Zorzini filmed the pair.
The life-size sculpture is believed to have been carved in Rhodes, Greece, in 40-30 BC. The moving portrait shows the priest of Apollo and his sons being attacked and killed by two large sea serpents, sent by the gods Athena and Poseidon. The statue was excavated in Rome in 1506 and is now considered one of the most valuable works of art in the Vatican Museums.
In a press release, the environmental group Last Generation said it chose “Laocoön and His Sons” because of its symbolic narrative. According to legend and the Vatican Museums' own website, Laocoon tried to warn his fellow Trojans against letting in the wooden horse left outside the city gates by the Greeks during the Trojan War. The group said scientists and activists they are like Laocoön, trying to warn the people around them about the consequences of current actions in the future, but they are also not heard or silenced by politics.
The restoration work alone cost €3,148. During a previous hearing, the head of the Vatican Museums' marble restoration laboratory, Guy Devreux, said the sculpture's marble base was "absolutely" an "integral part of the work." Although the damage to the base caused by the climate change protest was less than Devreaux had predicted, it was still permanent.
In addition to the $30,000 restitution, Viero and Goffi were also fined €1,620 and received a nine-month suspended sentence. Zorzini was fined €120.
Floriana Gigli, a lawyer for the Vatican City State, argued that Viero and Goffi knew their action would cause "inestimable" damage to the sculpture, citing their decision to glue their hands to the base, and accused them of exploiting the Pope's concerns. Francisco with the environment.