Ultima Generazione, two activists on trial in the Vatican. New protests in Milan: painting in Piazza Duomo

On the day when two activists end up on trial for the blitz last August in the Vatican, Last generation responds with a new action by daubing the statue of Vittorio Emanuele II with yellow paint Piazza Duomo in Milan.

Shouting “let’s not pay for the fossil fuel” and reiterating that inaction and indifference towards the climate crisis “are they less scandalous than smearing a team?”, some activists – immediately stopped by the Carabinieri – surrounded the monument this morning Milanese in the central Piazza Duomo and then sprayed paint that covered a large part of the base.

On Twitter, posting photos and videos of the action, the activists wrote: “Italy is done, everything is safe. No, proclamations are not enough. In 1861 as today, the declarations of those who govern may be completely inconsistent with the reality”. And again: “Billions continue to be allocated for thefossil industrywhile only pennies arrive to protect our territories”.

This is a new blitz in Milan that follows the one in via Palmanova, where traffic was blocked, or sit-ins at the airport Malpensaor even the one in which washable paint was launched on Maurizio Cattelan’s famous middle finger in business square.

An action, the umpteenth to reiterate the need for greater interest on the part of the institutions for climate collapse, starting from real decarbonisation plans rather than focusing on gas, which took place on the same morning in which two activists in the Vatican – Guido and Esther – I’m on trial because last August they glued (their hands) to the base of the statue of Laocoon in the Vatican Museums.

According to Ultima Generazione, the two, who have sent lawyers and chosen not to be present, risk “imprisonment from one month to three years and a fine of up to 3,099 euros”, the one for those who “destroy, scatter, spoil or in any way deteriorates public monuments”. The action, which took place on 18 August last, was born to sound the alarm on the climate emergency and the risks it entails for all humanity, but after “a few minutes the entire section of the museum was evacuated and people present in support of the activists, the cell phone was seized, the only tool capable of guaranteeing that the process takes place in total safety”, the activists recall.

In the request for summons we read that the two authors “competing with each other destroyed, damaged and, in any case, deteriorated a public monument of inestimable historical-artistic value, namely the marble base of the sculptural group of the Laocoon conserved in the Pio Museum Clementino of the Vatican Museums by affixing a synthetic adhesive to its surface” and a technical report quantified the repair costs at “over 15,000 euros”.

Accusations to which Ultima Generazione responded in a precise manner: “The fact of having placed your hands on the marble base placed to support the sculptural group, and not on the group itself, was naturally not accidental: of the latter it has always been recognized the inestimable historical-artistic value and they did not want to harm it in any way” they explain from the movement, underlining how the possible penalties are “disproportionate” to a gesture made, such as that of Milan, in their opinion to “raise awareness of the climate crisis” which continues to be ignored.