Two climate activists hurled soup Sunday at the glass protecting the โMona Lisaโ at the Louvre Museum in Paris and shouted slogans advocating for a sustainable food system.
In a video posted on social media, two women with the words โFOOD RIPOSTEโ written on their T-shirts could be seen passing under a security barrier to get closer to the painting and throwing soup at the glass protecting Leonardo da Vinciโs masterpiece.
โWhatโs the most important thing?โ they shouted. โArt, or right to a healthy and sustainable food?โ
โOur farming system is sick. Our farmers are dying at work,โ they said.
The Louvre employees could then be seen putting black panels in front of the โMona Lisaโ and asking visitors to evacuate the room.
Paris police said that two people were arrested following the incident.
On its website, the Food Riposte group said the French government is breaking its climate commitments and called for the equivalent of the countryโs state-sponsored health care system to be put in place to give people better access to healthy food while providing farmers a decent income.
Angry French farmers have been using their tractors for days to set up road blockades and slow traffic across France to seek better remuneration for their produce, less red tape and protection against cheap imports. They also dumped stinky agricultural waste at the gates of government offices.
This is not the first time the โMona Lisaโ has been targeted by activists. In 2022, a man disguised as an elderly lady in a wheelchairย smeared cream cake on the painting. Once in front of the painting, he stood up and smeared the cake over the glass case that protects the Renaissance painting. The man threw roses as security guards pounced on him.ย
โThink about the Earth. There are people who are destroying the Earth. Think about it,โ the man said in French as he was led away. โAll artists, think about the Earth โ this is why I did this. Think about the planet.โ
Also in 2022, two climate activistsย threw mashed potatoesย at Claude Monetโs โLes Meulesโ and then glued themselves underneath the painting at Museum Barberini in Potsdam, Germany. The painting was not damaged during the incident.ย
At Londonโs National Gallery, environmental protestersย threw tomato soupย over Vincent van Goghโs โSunflowersโ painting in 2022. BBC News said the gallery had confirmed that the painting was covered by glass, so it wasnโt damaged. ย
A climate activist in October 2022 tried toย glue his headย to the iconic โGirl with a Pearl Earringโ painting at the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague, the Netherlands.
Last year, climate activists turned the water of Romeโs iconic Trevi Fountain black inย protest of the fossil fuel industry. Activist group Ultima Generazione said that eight people poured โvegetable charcoalโ in the water as demonstrators pushed for an โimmediate stopโ to fossil fuel subsidies.
