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Mona Lisa in the Louvre in Paris
Photo: xIngusKx / Pond5 Images / IMAGO
It is probably the most famous of all paintings: Environmental activists threw an orange liquid on Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa on Sunday morning while the museum was running. This is reported by the AFP news agency as well as the BBC and the French press agency CL Press, among others.
In a video by journalist Clément Lanot, two demonstrators can be seen wearing T-shirts with the imprint "Riposte Alimentaire": a group of activists who, among other things, demand the "right to healthy and sustainable food."
The group later claimed responsibility for the action in the Louvre. According to her own statements, she wants to initiate a radical change in society in climatic and social terms with a “civil resistance campaign in France.”
The video also shows the two activists standing in front of the painting asking: “What is more important? Art or the right to healthy and sustainable food?" And: "Your agricultural system is sick. Our farmers are dying at work.« In France, farmers have been protesting for days against bureaucratic requirements and what they perceive to be too low pay.
Crisis team activated
In recent months, climate activists have repeatedly attacked famous works of art to draw attention to their concerns, including Andy Warhol's "Campbell's Soup" in Canberra, Australia, Vincent Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" in London and Claude Monet's "Grain Stack" in the Barberini Museum in Potsdam.
Immediately after the attack in the Louvre, museum staff intervened and cleared the room; according to AFP, a crisis team was activated. The Mona Lisa was apparently not damaged; it is behind bulletproof glass.
It was not the first time that the Mona Lisa was the target of attacks: in the 1950s a visitor poured acid on the painting, and in 2009 a visitor threw a teacup on it. The last time an activist threw cake at the Mona Lisa was in 2022.
The world-famous oil painting by Leonardo da Vinci dates from the 16th century.
kik/AFP