Peter Paul Rubens’ “Fall of the Damned” (1619) being removed after having been doused with acid while on view at Munich’s Alte Pinakothek in 1959.Upon his arrest, the assailant explained that he’d chosen to use acid because, in throwing it on a pict…

Peter Paul Rubens’ “Fall of the Damned” (1619) being removed after having been doused with acid while on view at Munich’s Alte Pinakothek in 1959.

Upon his arrest, the assailant explained that he’d chosen to use acid because, in throwing it on a picture, it was as if one hadn’t destroyed the work himself: “The liquid relieves one from the work of destruction.”

Christopher Schreck