Protestors splash soup across Mona Lisa painting in Paris's Louvre museum

28 January 2024 , 10:05

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Protestors splash soup across Mona Lisa painting in Paris's Louvre museum

French climate activists have been filmed throwing soup on the Mona Lisa painting at the Louvre Museum this morning.

Footage posted on social media shows two protesters from the group "Riposte Alimentaire", which translates to "Food response", spraying canned soup on the glass protecting Leonardo da Vinci's artwork. The pair said the action was meant to promote "the right to healthy and sustainable food" as they said: "Our agricultural system is sick."

A video of the incident shows museum staff rushing to the scene to place some panels in front of the painting. The Mona Lisa, which was painted sometime between 1503 and 1519 while Leonardo was living in Florence, Italy, was installed at the Louvre in 1804 and has been kept behind protective glass since the 1950s when a vandal damaged it by pouring acid on it.

Environmental activists from the collective dubbed 'Riposte Alimentaire' throwing soup on the Mona Lisa (AFPTV/AFP via Getty Images)

In 2005, the Louvre said it had installed armoured glass to protect the painting, which is one of the world's most famous artworks. The group the protesters belong to presents itself as "a French civil resistance campaign which aims to bring about a radical change in society on a climatic and social level."

It is not the first time the Mona Lisa has been targeted by climate activists. In May 2022, someone attempted to deface the painting by throwing cake on it. While disguised as an elderly woman in a wheelchair, a man wearing makeup and a wig threw cake at the priceless piece, before exclaiming "think of the planet!" while being escorted out of the building. He tried to smash the protective glass in front of the art, but thankfully was unsuccessful.

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In a clip of the event, the man says: "Think of the planet… there are people who are destroying the planet, think about that … That's why I did it." Bystanders reported the cake-wielding assailant leaping out of the wheelchair before unleashing the baked goods at the painting.

Activists in front of the painting after hurling soup at it (AFPTV/AFP via Getty Images)

In August 1911, the Mona Lisa was stolen from the French museum in what came to be known as the "art heist of the century". Vincenzo Peruggia, an employee of the world's most visited museum, hid in a storage closet overnight with two accomplices before taking the artwork, wrapping it in a cloth and leaving from a side door.

It took more than 24 hours to discover the Mona Lisa was missing when an artist who wanted to paint a copy of it noticed an empty space on the wall. Police blitzed the Louvre and questioned people, even interviewing Peruggia twice, but found no evidence to incriminate him.

Two years later, Peruggia wrote to Italian art dealer Alfredo Geri as he wanted to repatriate the painting to Italy. However, Geri, from Florence, called the police who arrested Peruggia on December 11, 1913. He served seven months in jail, but the theft eventually added to the artwork's mystique and contributed to making it one of the most famous paintings in the world.

The painting is protected by glass (AFPTV/AFP via Getty Images)

The Louvre Museum told The Mirror: "Two activists from the environmental movement 'Riposte alimentaire' sprayed pumpkin soup on the armoured glass protecting the Mona Lisa, this Sunday, January 28, 2024, around 10am. No damage was done to the painting, which has been behind protected under this armoured glass since 2005.

"The Louvre's security staff immediately intervened. The Salle des Etats, where the Mona Lisa is displayed, was evacuated calmly.

"Visitor access to the Salle des Etats was then suspended for an hour, while the necessary cleaning was carried out. The room was reopened to visitors at 11:30 am. The museum will lodge a complaint."

Chiara Fiorillo