Protesters Throw Soup At Da Vinci's Mona Lisa Painting In Paris (image@reposte_alim)
Two environmental protesters hurled soup at Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Mona Lisa’ in Paris, demanding the right to “healthy and sustainable food”, said AFP. Two women threw red and orange soup onto the bullet proof protecting the smiling lady, at the French capital’s Louvre museum.
The women asked in turn, “what is more important? Art or the right to healthy and sustainable food”. By standing in front of the painting they asked, “your agriculture system is sick. Our farmers are dying at work”.
A group named as Riposte Alimentaire (Food counterattack) claimed responsibility of the incident. In a statement on X (formerly twitter), it said the protest was port of the effort to integrate “food into the general social security system”. It said that the current modal for food, “stigmatises the most precarious and does not respect our fundamental right to food”. The group said that a food card worth €150 (£128) must be given to citizens each month to be used on food, as reported by BBC.
The Louvre museum said that no damages were detected on the painting. It said the Salle des Etats, where the work was displayed, was evacuated after the incident, which was around 10:00 local time, and was reopened around 11:30, after the cleaning process was carried out. The incident came as French farmers have been protesting for days demanding better pay, taxes and regulations. Earlier, the protesting farmers blocked key roads in and out of Paris.
This is not the first time Mona Lisa was attacked. Climate activists has pulled such stunts against the “smiling lady” demanding more action to phase out fossil fuels and protect the planet. In May 2022, a 36-year-old man threw a custard pie at the picture because artists were not focusing enough on “the planet”.
The 16th century painting by Leonardo da Vinci is one of the world’s most famous artworks and is held at the Louvre in Paris. The painting has been behind the safety glass since the early 1950s, after it was damaged by a visitor who poured acid on it. In 2019, the museum announced that it had installed a more transparent form of bulletproof glass to protect Mona Lisa.
The painting was stolen from the Louvre museum in 1911. Vincenzo Peruggia, an employee of the museum hid in a cupboard overnight to take the painting. It was recovered two years later when he tried to sell it to an antiques dealer in Italy’s Florence.
