Watch: The moment protesters threw soup on the Mona Lisa
Protesters have thrown soup at the glass-protected Mona Lisa in France, demanding the right to “healthy and sustainable food”.
The sixteenth-century painting by Leonardo da Vinci is one of the most famous works of art in the world, and it is preserved in the Louvre Museum in central Paris.
The Louvre Museum said the work was behind protective glass and was not damaged.
A video shows two female protesters wearing T-shirts reading “Anti-Food Attack” throwing the liquid.
Then they stand in front of the painting and say: “What is more important? Art or the right to healthy and sustainable food?”
They add: “Your agricultural system is sick. Our farmers are dying while working.”
Museum security was seen placing black screens in front of them before evacuating the room.
A group called Riposte Alimentaire (Anti-Food Attack) claimed responsibility for this operation.
In a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, she said the protest was part of efforts to integrate “food into the general social security system.”
She said the current food model “stigmatizes the most vulnerable people and does not respect our basic right to food.”
The group called for citizens to be provided with a food card worth 150 euros (£128) per month to use to buy food.
The Louvre Museum said that members of the Riposte Alimentaire movement, which it described as an environmental movement, sprayed pumpkin soup on the painting at around 10:00 local time (09:00 GMT), and no damage was caused.
She added that the Al-Dawla Hall, where the work is displayed, was evacuated and reopened to visitors at 11:30 after cleaning.
He added, “The museum will file a complaint.”
Rachida Dati, French Minister of Culture, said that “there is no reason” that could justify targeting the Mona Lisa.
“Like our heritage [the painting] “It belongs to future generations,” she said on the X programme.
The French capital has witnessed protests by farmers in recent days, demanding an end to high fuel costs and simplification of regulations, as on Friday they closed the main roads inside and outside Paris.
The Mona Lisa has been behind safety glass since the early 1950s, when it was damaged by a visitor who poured acid on it.
In 2019, the museum said it installed a more transparent form of bulletproof glass to protect it.
The painting was stolen from the Louvre in 1911, causing an international uproar. Vincenzo Peruggia, an employee at the world's most visited museum, hid in a closet all night to take the painting.
It was recovered two years later when he tried to sell it to an antiques dealer in Florence, Italy.
“Lifelong beer expert. General travel enthusiast. Social media buff. Zombie maven. Communicator.”