SHORT TAKES : Bucharest Museum Shot Up
The mythical hero Hercules grimaces in agony, a bullet hole through his heart, as he wrestles with a centaur in a 17th-Century masterpiece at the Bucharest art museum.
Machine-gun fire has ripped through the canvas by Italian painter Luca Giordano and bullet marks pock Alessandro Allori’s tranquil 16th-Century “Mother with Child.”
The damage was caused when troops fired on the National Museum of Art during last week’s fighting to flush out secret police snipers loyal to ousted Communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu shooting from the roof.
Art critic Dorana Cosoveanu sensed trouble when hundreds of angry demonstrators gathered in front of the presidential palace opposite the museum Dec. 21, booing Ceausescu.
“I realized the people thought this was Ceausescu’s house, they didn’t know it was a museum. So I climbed out of a window and put up a sign saying “ ‘museum of art, please protect,’ ” she said. In the days of fighting that followed, the stately museum became a prime target, and its stone exterior is now pitted with shellfire. Some of the gunfire was so heavy it pounded through the walls and straight through paintings, hitting the walls on the other side.
Museum Director Alexandru Cebuc said between 15% and 20% of the collection was damaged in the bombardment.
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