Paris: Climate Protesters Throw Soup at Mona Lisa

Facts

• Two activists from the food security group Riposte Alimentaire on Sunday threw soup at the glass-protected Mona Lisa painting at Paris' Louvre Museum.¹
• The women reportedly ducked the barrier to access the famous Leonardo Da Vinci painting. They said they were taking the action to highlight the need for 'healthy and sustainable food' in France.²
• In a statement posted on X, Riposte Alimentaire said the protest was also part of an effort to address the failure to integrate 'food into the general social security system,' which it claimed violates the 'fundamental right to food.'³
• Riposte Alimentaire is a collective of activist groups infamous for disruptive climate protests, including Just Stop Oil, which carried out a similar protest against Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers painting in a London gallery in 2022.⁴
• This isn't the first time Leonardo da Vinci's artwork has been targeted by activists. In 2022, a protestor smeared cake on its bulletproof glass, while urging visitors to 'think of the Earth.'³
• Sunday's incident follows week long protests conducted by French farmers across the country, who are seeking better wages, less bureaucracy, and greater protections against low-priced imports.¹

Sources: ¹NBC, ²Time, ³BBC News and ⁴CNN.

Narratives

• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by France 24. The intense media coverage of Sunday's act proves that civil disobedience protests can garner significant attention and bring food security issues to the fore. The current farming system is enormously flawed; hopefully, these actions will spark positive change.
• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Daily Mail. No cause can justify targeting cultural landmarks like the Mona Lisa. These important artifacts must be safeguarded for future generations — they are not props for a radical minority to make political point. These protestors are criminals and should be punished to the full extent of the law for this distasteful stunt.

Predictions