It's a bit like the love locks that couples fixed to bridge railings, first in Italy and then all over the world, as a visible sign of their indissoluble bond.
British climate activists follow a similar logic of fixation when they physically stick themselves to the streets, not only as a living blockade, but civilly disobedient to aggressively connected to the protection of the planet threatened by the climate crisis.
What activist groups Insulate Britain and Extinction Rebellion first cultivated, in the UK this summer the group Just Stop Oil extended to museum fisticuffs, pasting themselves to the frames of famous works of art depicting nineteenth-century landscapes – including one by Vincent van Gogh.
Ursula Scheer
Editor in the Feuilleton.
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Now the fashion has spilled over to Italy.
In Florence's Uffizi Gallery, environmental activists from the Ultima Generazion (Last Generation) group have taped themselves to the bulletproof glass pane behind which Sandro Botticelli's masterpiece Primavera (Spring) is on display.
Two members of the group, a young man and a young woman, each placed a palm on the pane while, with the help of a third, they unrolled a banner.
It read: "Ultima Generazione No Gas No Carbone" (Last Generation, No Gas, No Carbon).
Taken away by Carabinieri
Those who were overpowered by the security forces and, after resistance, were taken away by the police, entered the museum in a completely legal way: they had bought their tickets properly.
All three activists are from northern Italy.
The painting was not damaged, which should silence critics of the air-conditioned "glass sarcophagi" installed some time ago, in which the German museum director Eike Schmidt had the most valuable pieces of the exhibition's collection stored.
The activists now face charges of disturbing the public peace, resisting law enforcement officials, unlawful demonstration and defacing or damaging property.
They were already known to authorities for previous acts of civil disobedience in Rome and at the Puccini Theater in Torre del Lago, where they protested during the intermission of a performance of Madame Butterfly.
Why "Ultima Generazione" chose this Renaissance painting by Botticelli as a target reveals a statement from the group, which begs the question: "Is it possible to see such a beautiful spring today?" Fires, food crises and drought made that increasingly unlikely will.
One wants to set an "alarm signal" in view of the impending social and ecological climate collapse.
The group also said they consulted with restorers beforehand to ensure the work would not be damaged by their action.
"As we defend our artistic heritage, we should also be committed to caring for and protecting the planet we share with the rest of the world," she shares on her website.
For museums worldwide, however, this initially only means that you have to pay special attention to the protection of well-known, Instagramable paintings whose subject matter could fit the context of climate protection.
"Primavera" won't be the last work of art to be targeted by climate activists with glue on their hands.
And anyone who lingers in front of a well-known painting with nature motifs in an exhibition hall should expect to be eyed with particular suspicion by security personnel.