When an occupying force finally gained control of a city there would often be looting, destruction, or defacement of the local art/paintings/sculpture/relics/idols. Are there famous examples of hesitation to ruin such beauty or desperate attempts to preserve these works from destruction?

by Barmleggy

vertexoflife

Sorry, we don't allow throughout history questions. These tend to produce threads which are collections of trivia, not the in-depth discussions about a particular topic we're looking for. If you have a specific question about a historical event or period or person, please feel free to re-compose your question and submit it again.