Environmental activists threw soup at “Mona Lisa”.

Two activists threw soup on the painting by Leonardo da Vinci, which was protected by bulletproof glass, on Sunday. As can be seen in a video from the independent press agency CL Press on the X platform (formerly Twitter), two women threw things at the painting and demanded the right to a healthy and sustainable diet.

The women’s white T-shirts bore the name of their movement, “Riposte alimentaire.” No reason could justify using the image as a target, responded France’s new Culture Minister Rachida Dati on her X account. The Mona Lisa, like France’s entire cultural heritage, belongs to future generations.

The hall was cleared

As can be seen in the video, the room in which the portrait hangs was immediately evacuated. According to the media, it was cleaned and reopened to visitors after around an hour. The two activists were taken into police custody. “Riposte alimentaire” is a collective that emerged from the French movement “Dernière Renovation”. With their actions they aim for a radical change in society on a climatic and social level.

• Also read: Grand Canal in Venice colored green: Harsh punishments for environmental activists

The most famous painting in the world, which has been presented behind protective glass since 2005, has been the victim of vandalism several times. In 1956, even twice: First, a man sprayed the painting with acid paint, causing serious damage to the canvas. A few months later, a young man from Bolivia threw a stone at the painting. The protective glass broke and the splinters caused damage to the Italian woman’s left arm, which then had to be restored.

Tempered glass protects Mona Lisa

Since March 2005, the “Mona Lisa” has been protected by armored glass around four meters high and two meters wide in a hall specially designed for the painting. The additional protection turned out to be very useful in 2009: a woman of Russian origin threw an empty cup at the picture because, as she justified, she had not received French citizenship. The “Mona Lisa” escaped unscathed.

In May 2022 she was then thrown a top cake. A young man who was arrested immediately after the incident spoke of a gesture in support of environmental protection.

• You might also be interested in: Another Mona Lisa mystery has been solved

King Francis I, who invited Leonardo da Vinci to France, bought the painting from him in 1518. In this way the work ended up in the royal collections, which have been on display in the Louvre since the Revolution. The picture’s eventful history also includes its theft in 1911. It was only two years later that it was found again and returned to its place in the museum.

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