January 28, 2024, 10:08 GMT
Updated 49 minutes ago
video caption,
Watch: Moment protesters throw soup at Mona Lisa painting
Protesters in France threw soup at the glass-protected Mona Lisa and demanded the right to “healthy and sustainable food”.
Leonardo da Vinci's 16th-century painting is one of the most famous works of art in the world and is housed in the Louvre in central Paris.
The Louvre said the work was behind protective glass and was not damaged.
The video shows two protesters wearing T-shirts that say “Food Counterattack” throwing the liquid.
Then they stand in front of the painting and say: “What is more important? Art or the right to healthy and sustainable food?”
“Their agricultural system is sick. Our farmers are dying at work,” they added.
Museum security is then seen setting up black screens in front of them before the room is evacuated.
A group called Riposte Alimentaire (Food Counterattack) claimed responsibility for the stunt.
A statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, said the protest was part of efforts to “integrate food into the general social security system.”
It says the current nutrition model “stigmatizes those most in need and does not respect our fundamental right to food.”
The group called for citizens to be given a €150 (£128) ration card each month to use for food.
The Louvre said that members of Riposte Alimentaire, which it described as an environmental movement, sprayed pumpkin soup on the painting at around 10:00 a.m. local time (0900 GMT) and that there was no damage.
It said the Salle des Etats, where the work is on display, was evacuated and reopened to visitors at 11:30 a.m.
“The museum will file a complaint,” it said.
Rachida Dati, France's culture minister, said “no reason” could justify an attack on the Mona Lisa.
“Like our heritage [the painting] belongs to future generations,” she said on X.
The French capital has seen protests by farmers in recent days demanding an end to rising fuel costs and a simplification of regulations – on Friday they blocked key roads to and from Paris.
The Mona Lisa has been behind safety glass since the early 1950s, when it was damaged by a visitor who threw acid on it.
In 2019, the museum said it had installed a more transparent form of bulletproof glass for protection.
The painting was stolen from the Louvre in 1911 and caused an international sensation. Vincenzo Peruggia, an employee of the world's most visited museum, hid in a closet overnight to take the painting.
It was recovered two years later when he attempted to sell it to an antique dealer in Florence, Italy.