The famous Commerce Museum in Florence, central Italy, denounced the French fashion company on Monday Jean Paul Gaultier For “The Unauthorized Use of Botticelli’s Venus,” an iconic painting from the Italian Renaissance.
The museum said in a press release that “the fashion house used the image of the masterpiece preserved in the museum (…) to make several dresses, and published pictures of them on its website and on social media.”
The museum, among the most visited in Italy, has attached documents taken from the Internet as well as from the Instagram account of the famous Parisian house in which the clothes in question appear.
Including the number A €150 ($146) scarf that reads “The Birth of Venus”‘, in which the image of the goddess emerging from the water and covering her nakedness with her long blond hair is reproduced.
Gauthier denounced “he did so without seeking permission (…) or paying corresponding fees, under the provisions of the law,” and asked the company to withdraw the clothing from the market or contact the museum to reach a business agreement.
“The letter sent in April to Jean-Paul Gaultier was ignored,” laments the art gallery, which has thus announced that it has initiated “legal proceedings which, in addition to eliminating ‘illegal’ clothing, will provide for compensation for damages.”
The Uffizi in Florence, which opened to the public in 1765, has preserved more than 8000 square meters of masterpieces of Italian painting, in particular, The most important artists of the Renaissance.
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In addition to Sandro Botticelli, the visitor can admire the works of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Caravaggio or Titian.
Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) is one of the most prominent painters of the early Italian Renaissance. Among his most famous works are “The Birth of Venus” and “Primavera”.
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