Photo David CANTINIAUX / AFPTV / AFP via Getty Images
Earlier today at the Louvre in Paris, two protesters threw soup at the Mona Lisa. The orange concoction was splashed across the bulletproof glass protecting the famous painting. The artwork suffered no damage.
After throwing soup, the two female protesters broke through the protective barrier and stood alongside the piece with hands raised in salute.
“What is more important? Art or the right to have a healthy and sustainable food system?” the activists asked, speaking in French. “Our agricultural system is sick.”
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Louvre security guards subsequently hauled them away. It remains unclear how the protesters made it through the museum’s security system with the soup.
Staff tried to cover the incident with ineffective cloth screens, according to the New York Times.
Written across one of the agitators’ T-shirts were the words Riposte Alimentaire (Food Response), part of a larger coalition of protest groups known as the A22 movement; it also includes Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil, two groups with members who have in the past couple years glued themselves to artworks and tossed food at pieces in museums.
The most recent attack on the Mona Lisa came as French farmers blocked roads throughout the country as part of a larger protest against low wages. The farmers were also demonstrating against regulations aimed at making Europe’s economy greener and more environmentally friendly.
The Mona Lisa has been the subject of vandalism for decades. Just two years ago, for example, it was smeared with cake. The painting has been behind glass since a visitor splashed acid on it in the 1950s.
