Europe 1: Photo credits: David CANTINIAUX / AFPTV / AFP 10:33 a.m., January 29, 2024
Sunday morning, "The Mona Lisa" was doused with soup by two environmental activists. The Louvre Museum nevertheless indicated that the work had not suffered any damage. The two activists were arrested.
Two activists doused the armored glass protecting "The Mona Lisa" with soup on Sunday morning, adding their action, which did not damage the masterpiece, to the list of operations carried out in recent years by environmental movements in museums. “The work did not suffer any damage,” Le Louvre told AFP, specifying that the Salle des Estates, where the painting is exhibited, had been reopened to visitors, after having been closed for about an hour. The largest museum in the world plans to file a complaint on Monday.
The two activists arrested
"What is important? What is more important? Art or the right to healthy and sustainable food? Our agricultural system is sick. Our farmers are dying at work. A Frenchman on three does not eat all his meals every day", declaimed the activists, standing on each side of the table, after throwing away the soup, noted an AFP journalist.
They were then arrested, AFP learned from a police source. The two women were placed in police custody for damage to classified or registered property, said the Paris prosecutor's office. The investigations were entrusted to the Center police station. According to the Louvre, they had hidden the pumpkin soup in a coffee thermos. Food is accepted at the entrance to the establishment.
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Not a first for “The Mona Lisa”
The museum experimented with banning entry with food in the past, but decided against it, partly because it is possible to buy food inside. “The Mona Lisa, like our heritage, belongs to future generations. No cause can justify it being targeted,” condemned the Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, on Mona Lisa "is the biggest polluter in France. What does that mean?", denounced Prisca Thévenot, government spokesperson, on the France 3 television channel.
The famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci, 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.
A claimed action
The action was this time claimed, in a press release sent to AFP, by a collective called "food response", presenting itself as "a French civil resistance campaign which aims to bring about a radical change in society in terms of climate and social”. It “follows the last renovation campaign”, which has claimed several strong actions in recent months to demand “a thermal renovation plan for buildings that meets the emergency”.
The throwing of soup on "The Mona Lisa" is this time presented as "the kick-off (of a) campaign of civil resistance, which carries a clear demand, beneficial to all: social security for sustainable food ". For several years, a series of militant operations has targeted works in museums around the world.