On Sunday, climate activists braved weekend thousands at the Louvre Museum in Paris to splatter canned soup all over the famous “Mona Lisa.”

Two women can be seen in the footage hurling a crimson liquid at the mural before going over the wooden barrier that keeps people away.

One of the women removes her jacket to show off a T-shirt that reads “Riposte Alimentaire,” which translates to “food response” and is the name of a French food sustainability activist group.

Located in the heart of Paris at the Louvre, this 16th-century painting by Leonardo da Vinci is among the most well-known pieces of art in existence.

According to the Louvre, the piece was undamaged and protected behind glass.

They then ask, “What is more important?” while standing in front of the Mona Lisa. The right to healthful, sustainably produced food or the arts, they added

They also said that their farmers were passing away at work and that their agriculture system was unhealthy.

Vandalism and theft are nothing new to the mysterious portrait.

A 1911 theft by a Louvre employee made it more well-known worldwide, and an acid attack on the canvas’ lower surface in the 1950s prompted the institution to strengthen security measures, including bulletproof glass, around the piece.

A ceramic cup was hurled angrily at the picture in 2009; it broke, but the painting was intact.

Then, in 2022, a visitor covered the glass covering the Renaissance picture with frosting.

Before possible roadblocks around Paris, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin convened a security conference on Sunday, according to a statement from his office.

According to the statement, Darmanin gave the order for security personnel to “prevent any blockade” of the Paris airport and the Rungis International Market, as well as to forbid any agricultural convoy from entering the capital.

The Rungis International Market, which provides a large portion of the fresh food for the capital and the surrounding area, is the destination that farmers belonging to the Rural Coordination Union located in the Lot-et-Garonne region, where protests have started, intend to travel to on Monday using their tractors.

The “Food Riposte” organization demanded the establishment of a healthcare system equal to France’s state-sponsored healthcare system on its website to improve public access to nutritious food and pay farmers a living wage.

The group claimed that the French government was not honoring its climate pledges.

They declared in a statement provided to the AFP news agency that the soup-tossing event signaled the beginning of a civil resistance movement with an unambiguous demand for the social security of sustainable food.

 

On Friday, the administration unveiled many initiatives that, in their words, fall short of their demands. The plan calls for gradually doing away with diesel taxes on farm vehicles and “drastically simplifying” a few technical processes.

Gabriel Attal, the newly appointed prime minister, paid a visit to a farm on Sunday in the central region of Indre-et-Loire. He understood that farmers were in a challenging position since, while claiming to require quality, they were also demanding ever-lower prices.

Other Attacks On Mona Lisa

Vandalism and theft are nothing new to the mysterious portrait of the Mona Lisa.

A 1911 theft by a Louvre employee made it more well-known worldwide, and an acid attack on the canvas’ lower surface in the 1950s prompted the institution to strengthen security measures, including bulletproof glass, around the Mona Lisa’s painting.

In actuality, La Gioconda faces peril both within and beyond the borders of France. When the painting of the Mona Lisa was transferred to the Tokyo National Museum in 1974 as part of a worldwide tour, Tomoko Yonezu, a protester against the museum’s treatment of disabled people, splattered red paint on the Mona Lisa’s painting.

The Tokyo National Museum organized an exclusive exhibition day so that persons with disabilities might comfortably enjoy their work, even though the attacker was found guilty and fined 3,000 yen.

A ceramic cup was hurled angrily at the picture in 2009; it broke, but the painting was intact.

Then, in 2022, a visitor covered the glass covering the Renaissance picture with frosting.

Also Read: Iran Launched Missile Strikes in Northern Iraq and Syria, Claiming to Destroy an Israeli Spying Base