Activists threw soup at the Mona Lisa

At the Louvre Museum in Paris, environmental activists dumped soup on the Mona Lisa, which hangs behind a glass panel. The soup hit the glass, NTB news agency reported. The activists reportedly demanded the right to “healthy and sustainable food.”

Two women threw soup and it hit the glass. The women demanded healthy and sustainable food and criticized the French agricultural system. Then the guards took them away. Sunday's soup movement came after French farmers demonstrated and campaigned for several days – among other things to demand higher wages.

Oni Askeland thinks it seems unreasonable to attack art in order to campaign for the environment. (Mimsy Mueller)

Norwegian artist Onni Askeland is one of those who reacted with disbelief and anger at the vandalism.

-Why on earth would they destroy art to protest or campaign? She says upset.

“I understand that's an easy way to see it, but maybe not to hear it,” she says frustratedly. The sabotage attempt occurred on Sunday. The Mona Lisa, painted by Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci, is one of the most famous works of art in the world. Askeland thinks it's provocative for art to be what people enjoy when there are so many other things to address.

– The world is ruined, no one has money, and the wars have stopped. Throwing food at Art is just a piss hole in the snow! Askeland admits.

Environmental activists have thrown soup on the “Mona Lisa” artwork located in the Louvre Museum. (David Cantineux/AFP)

Mashed potatoes and resentment

This is not the first time that activists have attacked art with paint, glue and food in order to focus on their issues. In 2022, someone tried to throw a pie at the Mona Lisa. At that time, the glass ensured that the image was not damaged. In the same year, a climate activist tried to stick his head to the painting “Girl with a Pearl Earring” in The Hague, while another group campaigned with mashed potatoes against Claude Monet's “High Heap” at the Barberini Museum in Potsdam. And then stick themselves to the ground.

In London, an attempt was made to contaminate Vincent van Gogh's “Sunflowers” with tomato soup at the National Gallery. Here in Oslo, people campaigned in similar ways. In 2022, two activists attempted to stick Munch's “The Scream” at the National Museum, while two other “Stopp oljelinga” activists angered people when they threw orange paint on the monolith and other sculptures in Vigelandsparken while demanding an immediate halt to all violence. New oil and gas exploration on the Norwegian continental shelf.

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