Protesters have hurled soup at the bullet-proof glass protecting Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa in Paris, demanding the right to “healthy and sustainable food”.
Key points:
- The stunt is the latest in a series by climate activists targeting famous paintings
- More protest action by farmers for better pay and regulations is ongoing across France
- The Mona Lisa has previously been targeted by protesters in 2022
Two women threw red and orange soup onto the glass protecting the smiling lady to gasps from the crowd in the French capital’s Louvre museum, an AFP video journalist reported.
“What is more important? Art or the right to healthy and sustainable food,” they asked, standing in front of the painting and speaking in turn.
“Your agricultural system is sick. Our farmers are dying at work.”
A group called Riposte Alimentaire — “Food counterattack” — has since claimed responsibility for the stunt in a statement sent to AFP.
The group said the soup throwing marked the “start of a campaign of civil resistance with the clear demand … of the social security of sustainable food”.
The action comes as French farmers have been protesting for days to demand better pay, taxes and regulations.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal on Friday announced several measures, but road blockages have continued in different parts of the country.
The protest action follows a series of such stunts by climate activists against world-famous paintings to demand more action to phase out fossil fuels and protect the planet.
It was not the first attack on the Mona Lisa.
A 36-year-old man threw a custard pie at her in May 2022, because artists were not focusing enough on “the planet”, but the thick glass casing ensured she came to no harm.
She has been behind the glass since a rock was thrown at her in December 1956, damaging the left elbow.
In 2005, the glass was made bulletproof. The case was scratched in 2009 when a woman threw an empty teacup at the painting.
AFP