Comments on: 7 Works of Art That Are Taking a Beating

By: nicky

nicky — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 20:38:52 +0000

you forgot to mention how jesus’ foot in the pieta is almost totally worn off from visitors rubbing it for blessings. they don’t let people do that anymore.

By: mycroft

mycroft — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 23:59:48 +0000

the night watch took such a beating, in fact, that it is just recently discovered that it is not a night watch at all. The painting has gathered so much filth, that it just seems night. It is a painting of broad daylight

By: Ashley

Ashley — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 13:51:19 +0000

How about Da Vinci’s The Last Supper?

In the late 1700’s the building the famous fresco was housed in was used as an armory, where soldiers threw stones at the painting and actually climed ladders to deface it. During WWII the building was hit by a bomb. Unfortunately, because of the nature of the fresco and the significant damage done to it, even when it was unvieled after a significant restoration finished in 1999 some people were outraged by the color/shaping changes made during the restoration.

By: Erin

Erin — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 19:21:01 +0000

Another piece of Art that’s had its butt kicked a few times is “The Night Watch” by Rembrandt. It was unpopular to start with, then it was found in someone’s hunting cabin and has been vandalized at least twice by crazy people.

By: Megan

Megan — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 17:58:12 +0000

Like the Mona Lisa, the Little Mermaid statue is also a lot smaller than you’d expect. It’s only like three feet tall or something (although I guess it does look small in that picture). To prevent vandalism, the Danish goverment has decided to move it back further in the water.

P.S. Stacy, thanks for doing that piece on Artemeisa Ghentelleschi a while back!

By: kate

kate — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 17:53:56 +0000

I believe you meant to title this piece “Eight Works of Art…”, because you should of course be including Carhenge in the category of art. I heart Carhenge.

As for the vandals in that story, it seems like with the preponderance of “2008″ figures, the best place to start looking would be among the graduating classes of the high schools in the greater Alliance, Nebraska area. But what do I know.

ReCaptcha = Keowee Herman. Not sure what that is, but I like it!

By: gibson8or

gibson8or — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 23:55:36 +0000

I think there’s been a discussion about it before (an article about famous art thefts) but the first art vandalism that springs to my mind is the theft of several works from the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum in MA. The museum has left the empty frames in place, to commemorate the lost pieces.

By: Ben

Ben — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 22:26:49 +0000

Isn’t The Little Mermaid the one whose breasts are very polished from all the people touching them?

By: College Weekend

College Weekend — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 22:23:18 +0000

Claire – that’s true. I studied art history in Rome one summer and that was something my professor pointed out. They put fig leaves on the statues with the penises chipped off.

By: Claire

Claire — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 22:19:45 +0000

on the subject of vandalized art, is there any truth to the story about the Pope who had all the penises chipped off of the male sculptures in the Vatican? I think it was a couple hundred years ago or something like that. I remember reading it somewhere but I can’t remember if there’s any truth to it.