Two french activists belonging to the Riposte Alimentaire collective They poured soup on “The Mona Lisa”the masterpiece of Leonardo da Vinci exposed in the Louvre Museum whose original canvas is protected by glass, so it was not damaged
“What is more important? Art or the right to healthy and long-lasting food? Our agricultural system is sick,” shouted one of the two activists who threw an orange soup and quickly passed under the barriers surrounding the painting, a sequence that lasted almost two minutes and was filmed by the space’s security cameras, according to the news agency. AFP.
The group described the soup toss as “the starting signal (of a) campaign of civil resistance, with a clear demand that benefits everyone: the social security of sustainable food.”
Louvre employees prevented attendees from taking images of the activists
Next, employees of the Louvre They placed several screens in front of the painting to prevent attendees from taking more images of the activists, dressed in t-shirts that read “Riposte Alimentaire” (“Food response”).
The organization published several messages on X in which it justifies its protest by arguing that in France one in three people skips meals due to lack of resources, while 20% of food is thrown away. “Our model stigmatizes citizens in the most precarious situation and does not respect our fundamental right to food”activists say.
Rachida Dati, French Minister of Culturehe said in a publication in x that “no cause could justify that [la Mona Lisa] was attacked.” The painting, known in France as “La Joconde” because of the character’s famous and enigmatic smile, he belongs, he said Date“like all our legacy to future generations.”
La Gioconda, also known as the Mona Lisais considered one of the best-known works of art in the world and preserved in the Louvre Museum in the French capitalwhere in May 2022 he was the target of another act of vandalism when a cake was thrown at him.
Groups of activists attacked different significant works
Attacks on significant works in museums around the world have become the preferred method for different activist groups to speak out about the climate or food crisis. Of Goya’s “Las Majas” at the Prado Museum in Madrid to “The Sunflowers” by Van Gogh and “Venus in the Mirror” by Velázquez at the National Gallery in London, Numerous paintings have served as a stage to demand that governments change their policies regarding the management of the agenda on environmental or economic issues.
2022 was full of these types of actions. On July 22, some environmentalists stuck their hands to the “Spring” of Sandro Botticelli in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence (Italy). On October 14, they threw tomato soup at the painting “The Sunflowers” by Vincent Van Gogh in the National Gallery, London. A few days before, two people glued their hands to the painting Pablo Picasso “Massacre in Korea”, in Melbourne (Australia). In those days a painting of Claude Monet from the series “Racks”in a museum near Berlin.
Source: Ambito
