Mona Lisa Attacked by Soup-Throwing Protesters, Video Shows

The Mona Lisa painting was attacked by two environmental protesters who threw soup at the Leonardo da Vinci artwork.

A video shows two women approaching the painting at the Louvre in Paris, calling for "healthy and sustainable food." It then shows them throwing yellow-colored soup at the painting, which was behind bullet-proof glass and appeared to be undamaged.

One of the two activists wore a white T-shirt with the slogan of the environmental activist group Riposte Alimentaire (Food Response) on it in black letters.

"What's the most important thing?" the women shouted in French, according to a Sky News translation. "Art, or right to healthy and sustainable food?"

"Our farming system is sick, our farmers are dying at work," they added.

Staff placed black cloth screens around the painting to try and block the scene.

Riposte Alimentaire claimed to outlets that two people—aged 24 and 63—involved with their "new campaign" were behind the incident to "demand the establishment of sustainable food social security".

Newsweek contacted Riposte Alimentaire by email to comment on this story.

Following the attack, France's Minister of Culture Rachida Dati voiced support for museum staff on X, formerly known as Twitter, and criticized the attack.

She said: "The Mona Lisa like our heritage belongs to future generations.

"No cause can justify it being targeted!"

It is not the first time the 16th-century painting, which is one of the most famous artworks in the world, has been targeted. In May 2022, someone threw a custard pie at it in a demonstration about climate change. but it was undamaged.

Activists from Just Stop Oil, which is part of the A22 umbrella movement of protest groups that includes Riposte Alimentaire threw soup at Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers at London's National Gallery in October 2022.

In November 2022, campaigners glued themselves to Goya paintings in the Prado museum in Madrid, Spain.

In December 2023, a different group of campaigners, Letzte Generation (Last Generation), sprayed Christmas trees with orange paint in seven German cities to protest climate change.

On its website, Riposte Alimentaire said the French government is breaking its climate commitments and called for the establishment of an system to give people better access to healthy food and secure farmer's incomes.

French farmers have been protesting against low wages, rising costs and regulations, using their tractors to set up blockades and slow traffic across the country.