蜜芽传媒

Botticelli's painting of Venus standing in a Clam Shell is one of the most famous paintings in the world, created in the mid 15th century.

Now the Uffizi galleries in Italy, plan to sue the French fashion house Jean Paul Gaultier, after they reproduced it in a recent collection, apparently without permission.

The Florence art museum, say a cease and desist order was ignored by the designer, and they plan to seek damages under an Italian law intended to protect publicly-owned art from commercialisation.

Some believe Gaultier might qualify for an exception to the law using the defence of artistic expression. Dr Felicia Caponigri, Guest Scholar at the IMT Lucca School for Advanced Study, says this might be "a hard argument to make."

(Photo: Promotional material for Mus茅e capsule collection. Credit: Jean Paul Gaultier)