Priceless Thomas Gainsborough Painting Slashed at London's National Gallery

Deranged Man Slashes Priceless Painting at London's National Gallery

A portrait of the English artist Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788) whose work was slashed in London’s National Gallery on Saturday, March 18 (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A priceless work of art from the 18th Century in a slashing attack at London’s National Gallery over the weekend.

According to The New York Times, the casualty is Thomas Gainsborough’s Mr. and Mrs. William Hallett—an portrait featuring a couple on a morning walk with their dog—that is a major draw at the gallery.

The attack unfolded Saturday, when a 63-year-old man walked up to the painting and “[slashed] through layers of paint but [left] the canvas underneath intact,” the museum announced.

Deranged Man Slashes Priceless Portrait at National Gallery in London

Thomas Gainsborough (1727-88), ‘Mr. and Mrs. William Hallett’ (a.k.a. ‘The Morning Walk’), 1785; Oil on canvas, 236.2 x 179.1 cm – Bought with a contribution from The Art Fund (Sir Robert Witt Fund), 1954 (© The National Gallery, London)

Another famous act of vandalism occurred a little over 100 years at the same gallery. In 1914, a woman slashed a painting by Spanish Golden Age artist Diego Velázquez with a meat cleaver.

For a deeper dive on the slashed portrait in question, watch the video from ArtEx below.