Editing National Gallery (section)

==Incidents==
In the National Gallery on 10 March 1914, Velázquez's ''[[Rokeby Venus]]'' was damaged by [[Mary Richardson]], a campaigner for [[Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom|women's suffrage]], in protest against the arrest of [[Emmeline Pankhurst]] the previous day. Later that month another [[suffragette]] attacked five [[Giovanni Bellini|Bellinis]], causing the gallery to close until the start of the [[World War I|First World War]], when the [[Women's Social and Political Union]] called for an end to violent acts drawing attention to their plight.{{sfn|Spalding|1998|p=39}}

[[File:Francisco Goya - Portrait of the Duke of Wellington.jpg|thumb|right|upright|''[[Portrait of the Duke of Wellington (Goya)|Portrait of the Duke of Wellington]]'' by [[Francisco Goya]]]]

In August 1961 an unemployed bus driver, [[Kempton Bunton]], stole [[Francisco Goya|Goya]]'s ''[[Portrait of the Duke of Wellington (Goya)|Portrait of the Duke of Wellington]]'', in what remains the only successful theft from the gallery.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Iqbal|first1=Nosheen|last2=Jonze|first2=Tim|date=22 January 2020|title=In pictures: The greatest art heists in history|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2009/feb/19/greatest-art-heists-in-pictures|access-date=17 April 2021|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Four years later, Bunton returned the painting voluntarily. Following a high-profile trial, he was found not guilty of stealing the painting, but guilty of stealing the frame.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37657545|work=[[BBC News]]|title=The QC, Lady Chatterley and nude Romans|first=Nick|last=Serpell|date=14 November 2017}}</ref>

In July 1987, a man entered the gallery armed with a shotgun concealed under his coat and shot Leonardo's cartoon of ''[[The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist]]''. The man, Robert Cambridge, told police that his intent had been to express his disgust with "political, social and economic conditions in Britain". Though the pellets did not penetrate the cartoon, it had to undergo extensive restoration. It was placed back on display the following year.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/08/arts/restoring-a-leonardo-drawing-that-was-hit-by-a-shotgun-blast.html|title=Restoring a Leonardo Drawing That Was Hit by a Shotgun Blast|date=8 November 1988|work=The New York Times}}</ref>

[[Vincent van Gogh]]'s ''[[Sunflowers (Van Gogh series)|Sunflowers]]'' was attacked at the gallery on 14 October 2022 by environmental activists from the [[Just Stop Oil]] campaign, who threw [[tomato soup]] at it.<ref name="Harris 2022">{{cite web |last=Harris |first=Gareth |title=Van Gogh's Sunflowers covered in tomato soup by eco activists |website=The Art Newspaper |date=14 October 2022 |url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/10/14/van-goghs-sunflowers-covered-in-tomato-soup-by-eco-activists |access-date=14 October 2022}}</ref> Due to the protection of the [[Poly(methyl methacrylate)|plexiglass]], the painting was not harmed, but there was some minor damage to the frame, according to a spokesperson for the gallery.<ref name="Harris 2022"/> 

On 6 November 2023, the ''Rokeby Venus'' was again attacked, by two [[Just Stop Oil]] activists who smashed its protective glass with hammers.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Holl-Allen |first=Genevieve |date=6 November 2023 |title=Just Stop Oil protesters smash National Gallery painting |language=en-GB |work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/11/06/just-stop-oil-protest-national-gallery-painting/ |access-date=6 November 2023 |issn=0307-1235}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=6 November 2023 |title=Just Stop Oil protesters smash National Gallery painting |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/just-stop-oil-national-gallery-painting-b2442404.html |access-date=6 November 2023 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref>