In a shocking development, two activists splashed soup on the bullet-proof glass protecting Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic painting “Mona Lisa” in Paris on Sunday (January 28). According to AFP, the protesters were demanding the right to “healthy and sustainable food”.
On Sunday morning, the two women threw the orange and red soup onto the clear casing protecting the famous artwork displayed at the Louvre Museum in France’s capital city, causing a stir.
The unprecedented act elicited gasps from the audience, who were undoubtedly stunned and surprised by the abrupt turn of events.
“What’s more important?” “Art or the right to healthy, sustainable food?” the activists asked, standing in front of the painting and speaking in turn.
“Your agricultural system is sick. Our farmers are dying at work,” they said before security staff evacuated the room.
According to the AFP, a police source confirmed that both activists had been detained.
The iconic artwork Mona Lisa was unharmed
The Louvre Museum issued a statement claiming that the protesters had hidden the pumpkin soup in a coffee thermos.
It also stated that the iconic artwork Mona Lisa was unharmed and that the room containing the masterpiece had reopened to the public after being closed for nearly an hour.
Riposte Alimentaire (“Food counterattack”) took responsibility for the unexpected act.
According to them, the stunt marked the “start of a civil resistance campaign with the clear demand… of the social security of sustainable food.”.
Till Van Elst, a member of the group, stated that they wanted the state to provide people with reduced-cost food items via a specialized social security card.
Under the scheme, democratic assemblies would choose which foods to subsidize.
“We want citizens to be able to… decide what is on their plates,” he told AFP.