The Jean Paul Gaultier House Was Sued For Copying A Boticelli Painting
The Uffizi Gallery in Florence announced that it sued French fashion house Jean Paul Gaultier for "unauthorized use of Botticelli's Birth of Venus," a famous painting from the Italian Renaissance period, AFP reports.
"The fashion house used the image of the masterpiece preserved in our museum (...) to make several garments, photos of which were published on its website and on social media," representatives of the Florentine gallery explained in an official statement.
The Gallery in Florence presents, in its press release, several screenshots taken from the website and Instagram account of the famous Parisian fashion house Jean Paul Gaultier, showing the clothing items concerned by the lawsuit.
Jean-Paul Gaultier House Sued For Copying A Painting By Boticelli
Among the Gaultier clothing items that are targeted by the lawsuit, we find a scarf sold for €150 and entitled "Birth of Venus", on which the image from the Renaissance painting - of the goddess Venus emerging from the water and covering her nakedness with her long blonde hair - has been reproduced.
The House of Jean Paul Gaultier "did so without asking permission (...) and without paying the related royalties, as expressly provided for by law," denounced the representatives of the Uffizi Gallery.
The officials of the Italian gallery claimed they had asked the Parisian house to withdraw the garments in question from the market or contact the Florentine museum to reach a commercial agreement.
"The letter sent to Jean Paul Gaultier in April was ignored," so the Uffizi Gallery representatives announced that they had therefore opened "a legal action which, in addition to withdrawing the 'illegitimate' items from sale, also provides for a claim for damages".
The Famous Uffizi Gallery in Florence
The Uffizi Gallery in Florence, which is open to the public since 1765, displays masterpieces of Italian painting, especially by the greatest painters of the Renaissance, over an area of 8,000 square meters.
In addition to paintings by Sandro Botticelli, visitors can also admire works of art by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Caravaggio, and Titian.
Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) is one of the most important painters of the Italian Renaissance. His most famous works, on display at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, are "Birth of Venus" and "La Primavera" ("Spring").
Photo Source: jeanpaulgaultier.com
