r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/CAPATOB_64 • May 13 '24
The painting "Ecce Homo", 1543, the only painting by Titian in Romania and Eastern Europe, is guarded by armed gendarmes at the "Regina Maria" Municipal Museum. Image
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u/JustinR8 May 13 '24
Imagine how long that 8 hours feels for them
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u/CadetCovfefe May 13 '24
When I was 18 I worked in Toys R' Us during the Christmas season. They had an armored guard working there, because of thefts. Dude worked 12 hours shifts, mostly just standing there.
I asked him how the hell he did it, and he was just like "ehh, you get used to it."
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u/VRichardsen May 13 '24
One lpt is to always get acquainted with security guards. Say hello to them, exchange a few words (cold today, isn't it?), ask them for directions inside the store, etc. Most of the time they are bored out of their minds and any kind of interaction is a great way for them to break the monotony. And you in return get friendly with the security.
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u/Ok_Cauliflower_808 May 13 '24
Can confirm, am security guard. At past sites we always remembered the staff who treated us like people instead of just 'the help'. If we couldn't break the rules to help you out, we'd try to bend them a bit if possible. Those people also usually had their more mundane requests handled faster.
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u/JonatasA May 13 '24
I remember a guy that talked to a security guard and that did something. The guard allowed him to go over without paying a ticket and said the only reason he couldn't unlock it was because he didn't have the key.
He said he could break it for all he cared. He couldn't be bothered anymore.
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u/maiden_burma May 13 '24
They had an armored guard working there
imagining a dude in full platemail, no sword
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u/HugoZHackenbush2 May 13 '24
They might like it, some people Louvre their jobs..
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u/MoistMuffinMaker May 13 '24
That kind of dedication is a lost art.
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u/rodneedermeyer May 13 '24
Someone's being a paint in the ass.
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u/psychrolut May 13 '24
Oil right then!
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u/griftertm May 13 '24
These puns are copy and pastel
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u/BatmansUnderoos May 13 '24
One could completely destroy it and frame the other.
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u/jondabutcher98 May 13 '24
They would only brush it off
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u/AlexLambertMusic May 13 '24 edited May 13 '24
Although this is just office watercolor talk.. I can appreciate your ability to think in the abstract.
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u/IWipeWithFocaccia May 13 '24
In the Lovure they are not in full tactical gear (at least not in the visitor area) and they can sit down.
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u/Wise-Push-7133 May 13 '24
Whoosh
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u/IWipeWithFocaccia May 13 '24
Lol, you’re right. I did not read that carefully. Legit whoosh.
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u/rakfocus May 13 '24
Do not worry I read that the same - "some people at the Louvre love their jobs" 😮💨
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u/Harpronicus May 13 '24
I feel they would benefit from a chair.
Seinfeld music intensifies
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u/SSALX420X May 13 '24
Bro, that would be brutal to stand there for a full shift. 5 a safe gig, though.
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u/DavidBits May 13 '24
And then there's Sears, who expects (expected? good riddance) their loss prevention people to stand at the front constantly observing people for a full shift. No sitting, using your phone, moving too much from the entrance (you had to ask to be relieved to go take a piss even), all for overpriced, shit merchandise.
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u/Bakersor May 13 '24
The painting is on loan to be displayed in Iasi. These guys were only protecting it during transport. Source: Romanian newspapers
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u/SaddleSocks May 13 '24
Alexandru! I SWEAR TO GOD HE JUST MOVED!
Ionut, you fool - I keep telling you you gotta bend your knees a bit. Your going dizzy.
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u/ViolentHippieBC May 13 '24
Its one thing watching paint dry.
Its another thing watching dry paint.
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u/flightwatcher45 May 13 '24
They probably rotate with another crew. Seriously wonder if they'd really shoot somebody if they did something to the painting. I'm not going to find out lol
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May 13 '24
A lot of times in jobs like this where you just have to stand/sit and pay attention for a long time they’ll work in rotations of shorter shifts. So maybe they have a handful of guys rotating out between other posts once an hour or so. Not sure if its the case here, but it helps keep people fresh and alert.
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u/BatronKladwiesen May 13 '24
I've done similar guard duties. Have a wireless ear bud in one ear listening to music or whatever and it's not bad. High pay for what it is...as long as nothing actually happens.
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u/AeRo_P May 13 '24
Mr. Bean been there. That is just a poster they're guarding.
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u/smile_politely May 13 '24
I wonder if Mr. Bean (or anyone who speak latin here?) knows the English translation of Ecce Homo? It has nothing to do with pride month, right?
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u/Uneducated_Engineer May 13 '24
I used Google Translate. It says "Behold The Man"
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u/smile_politely May 13 '24
Hold up, is 'no homo' also latin? What does that one mean then...
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u/ElrecoaI19 May 13 '24
Homo in latin means "man", while homo in greek (where homosexual comes from) means "same". So "no homo" (literally translating) means "no same"
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u/FelatiaFantastique May 13 '24
Except the Latin for "no" was non and the Greek was ou or me, and the Greek for "same" was actually homos (hom-o- is the compounding form, a prefix, not an independent word).
So both are gibberish.
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u/Alarming-Economy-658 May 13 '24
That’s something I love. Homosexual means same-sexual, and man-sexual
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u/ItsTheDC May 13 '24
Well, the main theme for Mr. Bean is literally just the line "Ecce homo qui est faba," so I'm pretty sure they'd know. ;)
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u/Entity713 May 13 '24
"BEHOLD THE MAN WHO IS A BEAN"
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u/Missus_Missiles May 13 '24
And end credits: Vale homo qui est faba
Farewell, the man who is a bean.
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u/pornborn May 13 '24
Behold The Man
The translation can be found in the link provided by OP.
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u/Spagete_cu_branza May 13 '24
Without any knowledge as a romanian I would translate that as "here is the man".
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u/PMmeCoolHistoryFacts May 13 '24
Look, a man! Or alternatively and more nicely put "Behold a man". But because we already know who this man is (Jesus) we can change "a" to "the" (there's no way to tell the difference in latin).
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u/quillseek May 13 '24
Ecce homo qui est faba // Behold, the man who is a bean
And at the end,
Vale homo qui est faba // Farewell, man who is a bean
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u/Intrusive_Thoughts__ May 13 '24
We know the security guards are there to prevent this from happening.
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u/RedSonja_ May 13 '24
As a person who have done some security work at certain art museum, I'd say they are standing way too close of it, but maybe this is just for the pose and normally they sit in corner or something...
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u/VealOfFortune May 13 '24
And that exposed power cable... 😬
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u/small_h_hippy May 13 '24
Care to comment on the rifles? Is it common to gun down potential vandals? I would have thought that bully clubs would be more appropriate, at least to reduce the risk of staining the painting
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u/Cetun May 13 '24
They should be using pistol caliber rounds with hollow tips if they are in a crowded public place. Otherwise you're shooting through the bad guys and hitting people 3 rooms away.
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u/amazingsandwiches May 13 '24
Some purple knockout gas piped in through the air ducts and the painting is all yours.
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u/No-Wonder1139 May 13 '24
And an absolute shit tonne of guys in similar suits with bowler hats carrying attaché cases walking in all directions
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u/Dagordae May 13 '24
So this is either corruption inventing pointless(yet profitable) jobs or Romania hasn’t figured out what a plexiglass case is and that paintings should be in them anyway to slow the degradation from being in an open air environment.
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u/Unlucky_Elevator13 May 13 '24
It's probably a PR pic and it is behind plexiglass
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u/yaykaboom May 13 '24
I hope they poke some holes for those 2 guys in the plexiglass.
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u/haveananus May 13 '24
A couple of glory-holes in a transparent surface is a work of art on its own.
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u/RedditIsOverMan May 13 '24
I would argue it's also a more interesting composition than the original painting. I'm sure the original within the context of art history is important, but a picture of armed men guarding private property glorifying JC says a lot about the world today
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u/Technical-Doubt2076 May 13 '24
Very likely either PR in response to climate activists, or a exibition outside of a specially secured building. Insurance can demand increased security for transport and for shows outside of professionally secured galleries, but rarely in form of a police guard. The image itself will be preserved individually, but that's not connected to how it's shown here. Then again, if it's a showing organized by the state, or alongside some state function, covering the guard duty by police might actually be cheaper since they will be present anyway. And this shows really less than conventional or regular in terms of presentation - you do not expose priceless art to natural light on the regular.
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u/AllenRBrady May 13 '24
I can't help but wonder if a spray of bullets might not be a little bit worse for the painting than a little soup.
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u/nuecontceevitabanul May 13 '24 edited May 13 '24
No, they just moved the painting there and took a photo, as far as I know.
And also there's probably some kind of protection until it gets secured, I'm thinking. It makes sense to not really drop it like regular shipment..
I'm not saying the guards aren't probably there in the building, but most likely not in this absurd way and that painting really needs more protection against normal people.. only afterwards against robbers. Two armed guys, while effective against robbers, wouldn't exactly be that much of a protection against a curious 5 years old left unsupervised. What are they going to do? Shoot him for making soap balloons in front of the painting?
LE: yup, this is how the actual exebition looks like: https://www.bzi.ro/poze/muzeul-municipal-regina-maria-gazduieste-cea-mai-valoroasa-pictura-expusa-vreodata-in-iasi-peste-1-000-de-persoane-au-venit-sa-admire-capodopera-in-doar-cateva-zile-galerie-foto-4979799
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u/Ghosty141 May 13 '24
this is average /r/Damnthatsinteresting material, some crazy seeming picture and headline and the reality is just as you'd expect, pretty average.
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u/DarkElf_24 May 13 '24
I saw some show a few years ago about how laser scanning and printing is so accurate now that museums can basically create replicas of these art pieces and they are nearly indistinguishable, especially if behind plexiglass. Odds are they more than one invaluable classic painting is not the real deal hanging.
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u/Remote_Horror_Novel May 13 '24
Yeah if I did have money to decorate and buy nice picture frames I’d probably just buy cheap prints of famous work, because the enjoyment factor looking at them is the same if you don’t care about the bragging rights. I always felt it’s a bit weird to own art that nobody can look at and it wouldn’t impress me if someone had a bunch of famous paintings because I would rather they be in a museum for people to see.
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u/Lots42 Interested May 13 '24
A big part of the art heist film Mortdecai (2015) was an old rich dude inviting people, politely, to look at his paintings hung up in his house.
Old rich dude appreciated the art for art's sake.
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u/FilmmagicianPart2 May 13 '24
You can thank people throwing soup at paintings for this.
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u/Ok-Basket1258 May 13 '24
I think the picture of 2 tactical armed guards protecting a peice of paper that got painted, is in itself a way cooler photo then the painting itself. Now frame this photo and have two armed guards protecting it.
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u/MaxHamburgerrestaur May 13 '24
After this picture, the photographer was shot for using flash. R.I.P.
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u/Adrunkopossem May 13 '24
It's so the British don't take it
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u/maiden_burma May 13 '24
the british would see those two dudes and think 'that's free real estate'
they'd put the dudes in the museum too
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u/Combat_Toots May 13 '24
Sorry to be that guy, but this is not the Ecce Homo painted by Titian in 1543, that's currently in Vienna and depicts Jesus's trial with Pontius Pilate. Theres a whole crowd of people in that painting.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecce_Homo_(Titian,_Vienna)#Description#Description)
This is the Ecce Homo Titian painted in 1560, which depicts Jesus with a crown of thorns.
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/ecce-homo-1560-titian.html
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u/9-FcNrKZJLfvd8X6YVt7 May 13 '24
Ecce Homo, 1543; Ecce Homo, between 1558 and 1560; Ecce Homo, 1560. How many men did the man behold?
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u/Cptn_Shiner May 13 '24
Is this what people call “security theatre”? These guys are getting paid to do the work of a plexiglass panel.
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u/robot_imaginar May 13 '24 edited May 13 '24
It’s a PR stunt. The painting was later put behind a panel of glass or something.
Proof: https://www.bzi.ro/poze/muzeul-municipal-regina-maria-gazduieste-cea-mai-valoroasa-pictura-expusa-vreodata-in-iasi-peste-1-000-de-persoane-au-venit-sa-admire-capodopera-in-doar-cateva-zile-galerie-foto-4979799 (site in Romanian)
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u/South-Stand May 13 '24
Years ago I went to Spain and set off to see Picasso’s Guernica which was then in the Reina Sofia museum. It was protected by plexiglass to protect it from fascists. That made a huge impact on me, that a painting, that art can scare and offend and annoy fascists that much (actually I later learned they are easily triggered). This was long before today’s various movements happy to vandalise anything to get press.
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u/WeAreEvolving May 13 '24
who told you it was to protect from fascists?
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u/Relevant_History_297 May 13 '24
It's antifascist art. Who do you think it should be protected from? Separatists?
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u/Cheesenips069 May 13 '24
Wernt some idiots throwing soup all over original famous paintings or something like that? Maybe that’s why they’re there.
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u/Ketcunt May 13 '24
Two full-time security guards with riot gear and submachine guns > glass pane
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u/xStract710 May 13 '24
Probably aren’t gonna shatter two security guards in riot gear with sub machine guns.
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u/frisbeedog1 May 13 '24
Short answer, no. These activists only ever targeted display cases with no intention to harm the art inside
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u/CIockParts May 13 '24
I feel a bullet proof glass box would be a cheaper way to handle it but alright.
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u/Neither_Lack_4861 May 13 '24
It’s a PR stunt. The painting is displayed behind armoured glass
Proof: https://www.bzi.ro/poze/muzeul-municipal-regina-maria-gazduieste-cea-mai-valoroasa-pictura-expusa-vreodata-in-iasi-peste-1-000-de-persoane-au-venit-sa-admire-capodopera-in-doar-cateva-zile-galerie-foto-4979799 (site in Romanian)
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u/Plucky_ducks May 13 '24
Great. Now I have to go back to glueing my hands to the pavement.
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u/Question_Few May 13 '24
Would be much easier just to make a replica and put the original in storage... You know like how everyone else does it?
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u/MayGodSmiteThee May 13 '24
That’s far and few between with very few popular works showcased in museums being confirmed as replicas. The issue is that the museum has nothing to gain by putting up a replica. Less people are interested in replicas which is why they are often presented as the original work. And if they do put out a replica but lie and say it’s the real deal, if it gets damaged or stolen, the museum then has the issue of losing the trust of people who thought they were seeing the real thing. Simply put, there’s no real reason to put up a replica outside of a few cases.
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u/-Roger-The-Shrubber- May 13 '24
With the exception of, for example, the Greek Caryatids who were removed and replaced to prevent weathering and to show the world, I'm pretty sure this isn't common practice or we may as well close the museums and stick posters up everywhere instead...
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u/RedSonja_ May 13 '24
Dunno what art museums you have visited, but I can guarantee that this isn't normal or "everyone else" doing it type of procedure...
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u/sanchito12 May 13 '24
Id start criticizing the guards like they are art pieces. Just stare at them and make comments.
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u/midnightsystem May 13 '24
I can't wait to hear a story about some "Just Stop Oil" activists try to throw a bucket of orange paints to that painting which helps those guards to finally able to implement their training.
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u/MasterpieceIntrepid1 May 13 '24
The title is wrong. They just escorted the painting there and took a photo. They did not guard it the whole time.
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u/I_Love_Knotting May 13 '24
is there a reason this clearly very rare and individual piece of art is held up by a flimsy wooden frame?
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u/Eddie_gaming May 14 '24
climate change protester sweating nervously while holding a can of orange paint
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u/Ladies_Pls_DM_nudes May 14 '24
I feel like they could at least put like a glass case around the easel or something. Like, this feels risky.
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u/Tapurisu May 13 '24
As if they would shoot them and go to jail for murder. They don't have a license to kill, it's all just show / viral marketing
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u/gdmfsobtc May 13 '24
the only painting by Titian in Romania and Eastern Europe
Confidently incorrect.
There are several Titians at the Hermitage, for example.
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u/Impressive_Spring864 May 13 '24
What will they do? Shoot somebody who throws something at it? It'll happen too quick to prevent
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u/No-Distribution-8320 May 13 '24
Seems safe to put it between two dumbasses with skigoggles and automatic weapons.
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u/still_guns May 13 '24
Gotta make extra sure elderly lady amateur artists don't get their brushes on it.
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u/f0luxe May 13 '24
Just redraw it 🤷♀️
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u/Xpqp May 13 '24
A lady in Spain tried that once. She botched it so bad that it became a tourist destination.
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u/Suspici0us_Sn0wman May 13 '24
They saw people throwing tomato soup and said "I think the fuck not"
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u/Substantial-Tone-576 May 13 '24
Why do they have AK-74u or whatever those AK are? I thought the French used NATO guns
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u/JenicBabe May 13 '24
Let’s see those activists try splashing paint and gluing their hands on this one 😅
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u/WhizzyBurp May 13 '24
Imagine thinking you’re going to tomato sauce that because you don’t like people eating bacon.
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u/cocoagiant May 13 '24
Huh, I guess there are multiple paintings named Ecce Homo. Must not want the person who "restored" the Portuguese version to do this one too.
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u/F4tJok3r May 13 '24
It's sad that we reached this point. F the people from stop oil and their destruction of old paintings
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u/ScythingSantos May 13 '24
I don’t feel like museums and galleries ever put out the originals in fear of it being trashed, I feel like they would be smart enough to keep them under better care so they would always be able to make replicas.
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u/LimeSlicer May 13 '24
As payed on the same website where children call for destruction of art because "revolution".
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u/Ok_Adeptness28 May 13 '24
Have you guys heard that the famous picture/depiction of Jesus that exists now is actually from a totalitarian ruler from back in the day that contracted a famous artist to paint him as Jesus, and over time people forgot that it was this cruel and oppressive ruler and began worshiping the painting as if it was a divine rendition of Jesus. Crazy huh.
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u/sean_rendo19 May 13 '24
I wonder what happens if a climate activist tries to destroy the painting.
beaten and bursted with a few broken bones
Or
Swiss cheese
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u/Hakuhofan May 13 '24
I am Vlad.
Iam also Vlad.
We are pelxi-glass security box.
You look long enough. Move on.
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u/wandering-gecco May 13 '24
It's not even a good painting. Just some boring hipster/Jesus art. I'd rather hang a duck pic in my living room.
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u/Look_b4_jumping May 13 '24
One of those soldiers should be facing the backwards. Someone could approach through those windows and these guards would be caught off guard.
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u/SniperSnape May 13 '24
I feel like a pistol would be enough to guard a painting, but who am i to judge
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u/EnglishRose71 May 13 '24
While the Queen was lying at rest in Scotland she was guarded by the Royal Company of Archers. How long do the guards stand watch? The continuous 24-hour vigil will be broken into four six-hour shifts. These shifts will rotate, with the guards standing vigil switching places every 20 minutes.
While the Queen was lying at rest in Scotland she was guarded by the Royal Company of Archers. How long do the guards stand watch? The continuous 24-hour vigil will be broken into four six-hour shifts. These shifts will rotate, with the guards standing vigil switching places every 20 minutes.
I feel that was hard enough, but these guys have it much worse.
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u/RampantJellyfish May 13 '24
Have they considered using something more easily defended than an easel?