Anadolu
- Two protesters hurled soup at Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa in the Louvre Museum, Paris.
- Bullet-proof glass protects the world-famous image. No damage has been reported.
- The incident follows protests by French farmers demanding better pay and living conditions.
Two protesters hurled soup at the world-famous Mona Lisa painting in the Louvre Museum in Paris on Sunday.
Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece was left covered in what appeared to be tomato soup while the protesters made a speech about sustainable agriculture and the food supply chain.
The priceless artwork is protected behind a glass panel and the museum has not reported any damage so far.
Videos on social media show the activists wearing T-shirts with the words "Food Counterattack" written on them in French.
"What's the most important thing?" they shouted. "Art, or right to a healthy and sustainable food?"
They added: "Our farming system is sick. Our farmers are dying at work."
French farmers have been protesting and threatening roadblocks around Paris this month, demanding better pay and living conditions, Reuters reported.
The 16th-century Italian Renaissance painting, one of the world's most recognizable artworks, holds the Guinness World Record for the highest-known painting insurance valuation in history.
It was valued at $100 million in 1962, equivalent to about $1 billion in 2023.
The Mona Lisa has been the target of a number of protests and acts of vandalism over the years and has been protected by bulletproof glass since the 1950s after one person threw acid at it.
In 2009, a "disgruntled Russian woman" who had been denied French citizenship also threw a ceramic mug at the painting, per Harper's Bazaar. The mug shattered after hitting the safety glass.
In 2022, a man disguised as an elderly woman smeared a pastry on the safety glass after failing to smash it.
He threw rose petals around before being escorted out by security.
On his way out, he told fellow museumgoers, "There are people who are destroying the Earth. Think about it. All the artists tell you think about the Earth, all artists think about the Earth, that's why I did this. Think about the planet."
In 2022, anti-oil protesters targeted the UK's National Gallery, throwing a can of tomato soup onto one of Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" paintings.