Vandal’s drill attack on Gainsborough at the National Gallery
A TREASURED Gainsborough painting has been vandalised at the National Gallery – amid fears that security cuts have left priceless works of art at risk.
The vandal used a sharp instrument, believed to be a drill bit, to make two long scratches on The Morning Walk, a 1785 painting by Thomas Gainsborough that is worth several million pounds.
When apprehended with the help of visitors, the man falsely claimed to be armed with a knife and a bomb – triggering the evacuation of the East Wing of the central London gallery.
The scratches penetrated the paint layers but not the supporting canvas of the portrait – of William Hallett and his wife Elizabeth in woodland around the time of their marriage in 1785. It was
‘Staff numbers cut to save money’
removed from Room 34, where it was hanging alongside paintings by Turner, Constable and other 18th and 19th century British artists after the incident at around 2.15pm on Saturday.
The painting is part of the backdrop in a scene in the James Bond film Skyfall, starring Daniel Craig, which takes place in Room 34.
A spokesman for the gallery, in Trafalgar Square, said: ‘ A man was quickly detained by gallery assistants with the help of some visitors. The gallery’s conservators are assessing next steps.’
It was ‘quickly identified’ that the vandal’s claims about being armed were false, but a security sweep of the building was undertaken as a precaution.
‘The incident was dealt with very swiftly and professionally by the security team,’ the spokesman added. But a source at the gallery said that those who apprehended the man had to wait ‘ages’ for back-up after the room’s panic alarm was activated – despite his worrying claims.
Fears were raised as long ago as 2011 about the increased risk of vandalism and theft after the gallery decided to make each of the warders or ‘gallery assistants’ guard two rooms rather than one. The gallery outsourced security to Securitas in 2015.
The source said of the latest incident: ‘It’s lucky the right warder was in the room to stop the man. The number of staff has been cut by Securitas to save money. Responses to alarms have become worse as a result. It took ages for help to arrive to Room 34.’
A 63-year-old man was charged yesterday with causing criminal damage to a painting at the National Gallery. He will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court today.