The famous Mona Lisa (1503), by Leonardo da Vinci, was once again the target of the protest movement this morning. According to the news agency AFPThe protest was led by two demonstrators, who threw red and orange soup on the work displayed in the Louvre Museum in Paris, amid “screams from the masses.” [que se encontrava] in the museum”. The action was taken by the group Riposte Alimentaire, which demands the right to “healthy and sustainable food”.
ATTENTION – Climate fighters flock to the Louvre's La Joconde painting. @CLPRESSFR pic.twitter.com/Aa7gavRRc4
– CLPRESS / Press Agency (@CLPRESSFR) January 28, 2024
The Louvre Museum confirmed that the painting was protected by bulletproof glass and was not damaged.
This measure comes on the heels of farmer protests in France, which have gained momentum in recent days in several regions of the country: demonstrators are blocking roads to demand that Emmanuel Macron's government take action against price pressure, high taxes, low wages and what are said to be “suffocating” regulations regarding environmental protection.
“What is more important? Art or the right to a healthy and sustainable diet,” asked the demonstrators standing in front of Leonardo’s painting, as some Louvre employees tried to cover it up. “Your agricultural system is sick. Our farmers die while working. Activists said that one in three French people does not cook all their meals every day. According to the French newspaper ReleaseThe soup was hidden in a thermos coffee flask, making it possible to enter the museum with food.
In a press statement sent by the group to Agence France-Presse defend Alimentaire describes itself as “a French civil resistance campaign aiming to bring about radical social and climate change.” Mona Lisa It is presented as the “starting point” for a movement demanding “a demand that is clear to all: social security for sustainable food.”
“a Mona LisaLike our heritage, it belongs to future generations. French Culture Minister Rachida Dati wrote on the social networking site X (formerly Twitter): “No issue can justify being the target of attacks.” “I'm not sure that Mona Lisa It is the largest pollutant in France. What is the goal?,” government spokeswoman Prisca Thévenot asked France 3 television.
According to the ReleaseThe Louvre Museum, the most visited museum in the world, quickly activated its crisis unit: the room in which the work was located has been evacuated and is being cleaned.
This is the latest chapter in a wave of protests by activists against world-famous works of art. In May 2022, Mona Lisa It was already the target of a cream pie attack, in an environmental warning about the state of the planet. There, too, she survived intact.
In Portugal, there is only one recent case at the Belém Cultural Center Museum, where, in October last year, two activists from the Climáximo group covered the work in red paint. Femme in a fauteuil (trans), by Pablo Picasso. “There is no art on a dead planet,” said one activist. Governments and corporations have declared war on society. Another activist added: “They are killing us.” The work is protected by acrylic, and has not been damaged.
The news has been updated with French government reactions
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