Uffizi Galleries sue Jean Paul Gaultier over use of Botticelli images
msn.comItaly’s Uffizi Galleries are suing the French fashion house Jean Paul Gaultier for damages that could reach over €100,000 (£88,000) after the company’s allegedly unauthorised use of images of Botticelli’s Renaissance masterpiece, The Birth of Venus, to adorn a range of clothing products, including T-shirts, leggings and bodices.
The matter came to light earlier this year after the Uffizi in Florence was notified of the garments being advertised by Jean Paul Gaultier on its website and social media.
The painting by Sandro Botticelli is the centrepiece of the Botticelli Rooms at the world-famous galleries and, according to Italian law, any use of the country’s publicly-owned art to sell merchandise requires permission and payment of a fee.
Eike Schmidt, the director of the Uffizi Galleries, said a letter sent to the fashion house in April demanding it take the clothing items off the market, or agree a payment, was ignored. “Fashion designers regularly use our images and most are familiar with Italian law, which says that any use of publicly-owned art needs to be authorised and paid for,” Schmidt said. “How much depends on the volume of sales, price the items are sold for etc. ”Fees can range anywhere between a few thousand or tens of thousands of euros, depending also on how many garments the image appears on.
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