2 climate activists arrested after throwing soup at “Mona Lisa” in Paris

Two climate activists threw soup on Sunday at the glass protecting the “Mona Lisa” at the Louvre Museum in Paris and shouted slogans advocating for a sustainable food system.

In a video posted on social media, two women with the word “FOOD RIPOSTE” written on their T-shirts can be seen walking under a security barrier to approach the painting and throwing soup at the glass protecting Leonardo’s masterpiece. DaVinci

“What is the most important?” they shouted. “Art or right to healthy and sustainable food?”

“Our agricultural system is sick. Our farmers are dying on the job,” they said.

Louvre employees could then be seen placing black panels in front of the “Mona Lisa” and asking visitors to evacuate the room.

Paris police said two people were arrested following the incident.

On its website, the Food Riposte group said the French government is failing to meet its climate commitments and called for the equivalent of the country’s state-sponsored healthcare system to be implemented to give people better access to healthy food and health. at the same time provide farmers with a decent income. .

Angry French farmers have been using their tractors for days to block roads and slow down traffic across France in search of better remuneration for their produce, less bureaucracy and protection from cheap imports. They also dumped stinking agricultural waste at the doors of government offices.

It is not the first time that activists have attacked the “Mona Lisa.” In 2022, a man dressed as an old woman in a wheelchair cream cake spread in paint. Once in front of the painting, she got up and spread the cake on the display case that protects the Renaissance painting. The man threw roses as security guards pounced on him.

“Think about the Earth. There are people who are destroying the Earth. Think about it,” the man said in French as he was led away. “All you artists, think about the Earth; that’s why I did this. Think about the planet.”

Also in 2022, two climate activists threw mashed potatoes in Claude Monet’s “Les Meules” and were later glued under the painting at the Barberini Museum in Potsdam, Germany. The paint was not damaged during the incident.

At the National Gallery in London, environmental protesters he poured tomato soup on Vincent van Gogh’s painting “Sunflowers” in 2022. BBC News said the gallery had confirmed that the painting was covered by glass, so it was not damaged.

In October 2022, a climate activist attempted hit his head to the iconic painting “Girl with a Pearl Earring” in the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague, Netherlands.

Last year, climate activists turned the water in Rome’s iconic Trevi Fountain black. fossil fuel industry protest. Activist group Ultima Generazione said eight people poured “charcoal” into the water as protesters pushed for an “immediate end” to fossil fuel subsidies.