The scene aroused the astonishment of visitors to the Louvre. Two environmental activists splashed soup on the armored glass protecting "The Mona Lisa" on the morning of Sunday, January 28, justifying their action by their desire to promote in particular "the right to healthy and sustainable food."
The most famous painting in the world, presented behind armored protective glass since 2005, has already been the victim of vandalism several times. In May 2022, for example, he was the target of a cream pie.
🇫🇷 Two environmental activists threw soup on the armored glass protecting "The Mona Lisa" at the Louvre, justifying their action by their desire to promote in particular "the right to healthy and sustainable food" #AFPTV ⤵️ 🎥@
candavid5 pic. twitter.com/EpWdDUU255
— Agence France-Presse (@afpfr) January 28, 2024
The Louvre has activated a crisis unit: the room where “The Mona Lisa” is located was immediately evacuated and is being cleaned. The action was claimed by a collective called "food response", presenting itself as "a French civil resistance campaign which aims to bring about a radical change in society on a climatic and social level".
In a press release, he presents the throwing of soup on "The Mona Lisa" as "the kick-off (of a) campaign of civil resistance, which carries a clear demand, beneficial to all: social security of the sustainable food.
For several months, a series of militant operations has targeted works in several museums around the world.
In October 2022, two young women wearing "Just Stop Oil" t-shirts projected the contents of two cans of tomato soup onto Van Gogh's masterpiece "Sunflowers" at the National Gallery in London, before pressing himself against the wall shouting: "Which is worth more, art or life?"
This painting was also protected by glass.
With AFP
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