Environmental activists splattered the Mona Lisa with soup on Sunday morning as they called for the right to healthy and sustainable food.
The protesters threw tomato soup at Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece, which is protected by a glass case in the Louvre museum in Paris. The painting wasn’t damaged and the gallery where it hangs was closed for an hour for cleaning, the Louvre said. The room reopened at 11:30 a.m. local time.
The action signaled the start of a “civil resistance” campaign on food rights, Riposte Alimentaire (Food Retaliation), the group responsible, said in a statement. The news was earlier reported by BFM TV.
ALERTE – Des militantes pour le climat jettent de la soupe sur le tableau de La Joconde au musée du Louvre. @CLPRESSFR pic.twitter.com/Aa7gavRRc4— CLPRESS / Agence de presse (@CLPRESSFR) January 28, 2024
Culture Minister Rachida Dati said in a post on X that “no cause” could justify an attack on the painting. The museum said it would file a complaint.
Climate activists have regularly targeted artwork in recent years. Several were charged in relation to soup thrown at Van Gogh’s Sunflowers painting in 2022.