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Pascal Rossignol / Reutersfile
A woman looks at Eugene Delacroix 's painting, "Liberty Leading the People at the Louvre museum in Lens, northern France, in this Dec. 3 file picture.
PARIS -- A woman defaced Eugene Delacroix's painting "Liberty Leading the People" with a black marker as it hung in an outpost of the Louvre gallery in northern France.
Police arrested a 28-year-old woman on Thursday for writing "AE911" across the bottom of a painting so closely identified with the French Republic that its image once graced the 100-franc note and it has been reproduced on postage stamps.
"AE911Truth" is the name of a website called "Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth" whose backers say they are seeking to establish the truth of the Sept. 11, 2001 suicide airliner attacks on New York's Twin Towers.
Painted in 1830, Delacroix's "Liberty Leading the People" depicts a bare-breasted woman brandishing a tricolor flag and leading her people over the bodies of the fallen.
Reuters
Xavier Dectot, director of the Louvre-Lens Museum, speaks to the media after Delacroix's "Liberty Leading the People," was damaged.
It was painted after the 1830 July Revolution as a symbol of reconciliation following the overthrow of Bourbon King Charles X and the ascent to the throne of his cousin Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orleans.
The painting was later adopted as a revolutionary emblem in the 1848 uprising which overthrew the Orleans monarchy.
It later disappeared from public view but resurfaced in the Louvre after the advent of the Third Republic in 1871 and sealed its place in the French national consciousness.
"It had really become an icon, a sort of symbol of the Republic which has remained famous throughout the ages," said Vincent Pomarede, head of the Louvre's painting department.
"We have a very passionate relationship with all our paintings and when something like this happens it's really hard to handle," he said.
The work was on loan from the main Louvre in Paris to the new Louvre-Lens gallery in northern France inaugurated last December by President Francois Hollande when it was defaced.
However, the Louvre confirmed Friday it had managed to save the painting as the black marker had not penetrated the upper layer of varnish and has been successfully removed.
Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
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I guess I don't understand why this is news worthy. Who cares about this nut case? Why is she getting attention for doing something like this? I'm glad the painting wasn't permanently ruined.
Dance Conspiracy
Words like Oil, Energy, Middle East, Military and Economy only indicate the results of using invention and technology and not anything due to global politics. Politics is just a game played where the public thinks of it as government, and the politicians merely play the game. Any game has its fans, announcers, sponsors and pundits; it would be absurd to assume that these participants did not like the political game, or that they would discard their life long participation as being unworthy, and denounce the game. They would be removed so quickly from the board of political players that none would notice. There is one rule that might be of note, but then again not, the public can change this, but wouldn't that public have to change its view that the public can see no alternative; it is the difference between government and non-government.
As for conspiracies, it is also possible that the "Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth" group is in fact funded by the owner and stake holders of government, with the very specific benefit of making long term conspiracies involving Oil, Energy, Middle East, Military and Economy look as impossibly unrelated between themselves and that any possible relationship to Lady Liberty should be ignored.
So when your car starts you need not worry, it is just liberty you can see and feel, and it is safe to ignore the political game.
Do not remember or learn about of how many times art and civilizations have been erased when large numbers of the public came to believe the words of politicians.
Music Stop, Exit Conspiracy
I am wondering who is behind the 9/11 conspiracy theorists - who inspires and finances them. It seems to me they have something to do with Al-Qaeda or at least with rabid America-haters.
no financing required for nutcase idiots
Deprogrammer:
I have never read a more stupid explanation of something such as you are giving about whoi is responsible for the 911 attacks.You have been eating too many pieces of dog crap the left is putting out. PLUS it is old hat and has been disproved over and over again. Your hatred for the excellent informati0n that Fox News puts out (you call it "faux noise" oh ha ha so unoriginal and simplistic!) You must have your ears open to the wrong news channels. Wise up A$$hole, I wouldn't watch fox news either if I didn't have a brain to understand they are telling the truth and prove it time and time again. It's not enough to just say they are liars.. lets see you try to prove it wrong! What a dingbat and a simplistic moron!!