Environmental protesters are back to their dumb antics with another idiotic stunt. In an attempt to “raise awareness,” two protesters shocked visitors at the Louvre in Paris by hurling soup at the iconic Mona Lisa, demanding “healthy and sustainable food.”
Thankfully, the 16th-century masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci, was safely encased in bulletproof glass.
Rather than raise awareness on these global issues, these kind of protesters have become the butt of the joke as Twitterati came up with hilarious memes to give them the proverbial “bhuja.”
Mona Lisa every 3 days: pic.twitter.com/YMjWxy2yOC https://t.co/TG4a4W16wL
— L D N _ L E W🦩S (@LDN_Lewis) January 28, 2024
Gallery-goers watched in disbelief as the two women, affiliated with the environmental activist group Riposte Alimentaire (Food Response), threw yellow-colored soup at the painting. The activists then climbed under the barrier, stood beside the splattered artwork, and saluted the scene with raised right hands.
Mona Lisa looking at them like pic.twitter.com/gUxjagWNef
— B I L A L (@Bilsa__) January 28, 2024
Shouting slogans like, “Art or the right to healthy and sustainable food?” the protesters decried the perceived issues in the farming system, claiming that farmers are suffering.
Louvre staff swiftly erected black cloth screens around the painting and the activists, but the attempt to block the view proved inadequate. Paris police later confirmed the arrest of the two individuals involved in the incident.
The attack, amid ongoing protests by French farmers, is part of a series of similar actions by environmental groups demanding increased action for planetary protection. Riposte Alimentaire is associated with the A22 umbrella movement, which includes Just Stop Oil.
In a statement to AFP, the group framed the soup-throwing as the “start of a campaign of civil resistance with the clear demand … of the social security of sustainable food.”
Questions arise about how the activists managed to smuggle soup into the Louvre, considering strict security measures typically enforced at major galleries.
Previous attacks on artworks include the 2022 mashed potato assault on Claude Monet’s Les Meules at the Barberini gallery in Germany and the tomato soup incident on Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers at the National Gallery in London by Just Stop Oil.
An alive #MonaLisa would have reacted like this pic.twitter.com/tp8Q6wwNbT
— Phoenix ❤️🔥 (@Flame_Hashiraa) January 29, 2024
The Mona Lisa, housed behind glass since a 1956 rock-throwing incident, has been the target of unconventional protests. In May 2022, a man threw a custard pie, claiming artists were neglecting environmental issues.
The glass was upgraded to bulletproof in 2005 following various incidents, including a 2009 episode where a woman threw an empty teacup, causing minor scratches.
