July 5 (UPI) -- For the second day in a row a group of climate activists glued themselves to a painting at a London art museum Tuesday to protest oil and gas extraction.
Members of the organization Just Stop Oil participated in the protest at the Royal Academy of Art, using superglue to attach themselves to a copy of Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper. The painting wasn't original to the Italian Renaissance master, but was instead completed by two of his students -- Giampietrino and Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio.
The demonstrators, some wearing bright orange "Just Stop Oil" T-shirts, spray painted "No new oil" on the wall underneath the painting.
One of the protesters compared the British government's issuance of oil and gas licenses to Judas' betrayal of Jesus, the subject of the painting.
Related
"Da Vinci said that art is the queen of all sciences communicating knowledge to all the generations of the world. The science still isn't being heard," one of the participants, Tristan Strange, said in a statement released after the protest.
"We are continually fed comforting lies that downplay the urgency of the climate crisis we face so that fossil fuel interests can continue to reap huge profits whilst the global south and our children are condemned to live in a potential hell. I call on all artists to harness every ounce of their creativity sounding the alarm in the hope that it cuts through the misinformation. Nothing is more critical at the moment."
A representative for the Royal Academy told CNN the four protesters stayed in the room with the painting for more than 3 hours before police removed them. Officials closed down the gallery room to the public at the time and the painting was being evaluated for any potential damage.
The group used the same protest technique, gluing themselves to The Hay Wain by John Constable at London's National Gallery on Monday; to Tomson's Aeolian Harp by J.M.W. Turner at the Manchester Art Gallery on Friday; to Peach Trees in Blossom by Vincent van Gogh at London's Courtauld Gallery on Thursday; and to My Heart's in the Highlands by Horatio McCulloch at the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland on Wednesday.
Five protesters also disrupted the British Grand Prix race at Silverstone on Sunday by sitting on the track.
