Police in France have arrested two people after protesters threw soup at the Mona Lisa painting in The Louvre Museum.
On Sunday, protesters from French organisation Riposte Alimentaire sprayed the 16th-century painting by Leonardo Da Vinci with pumpkin soup.
The Paris museum confirmed no damage was done to the world-famous painting, which has been behind protective armoured glass since 2005.
Following the incident, Paris police said they had arrested two people, according to the AP news agency.
ALERTE - Des militantes pour le climat jettent de la soupe sur le tableau de La Joconde au musée du Louvre. @CLPRESSFR pic.twitter.com/Aa7gavRRc4
Advertisement— CLPRESS / Agence de presse (@CLPRESSFR) January 28, 2024
In a video shared by French news agency CL Press, a woman can be seen throwing liquid from a tin at the artwork.
She then crosses a boundary between the painting and public alongside another women, with both of them wearing T-shirts that said “Riposte Alimentaire”, which translates as food response, written on the front.
“What’s the most important thing? Art, or right to healthy and sustainable food?” the protesters shouted, AP reported.
“Our farming system is sick. Our farmers are dying at work,” they added.
Riposte Alimentaire describe themselves as a collective which seeks to highlight the need to protect sustainable food.
Museum staff are later seen rushing in to prop black protective panels around the artwork.
A statement from the Louvre Museum said that the Salle des Etats, where the Mona Lisa is displayed, was evacuated after the demonstration.
It added that the room was suspended for an hour while cleaning was carried out before it was reopened to visitors around midday.
The statement added: “The museum will lodge a complaint.”
France has faced major protests in the last few days by farmers in a bid to pressure the government to give in to their demands that growing food be made easier and more lucrative.
The movement has spread across the country with protesters using their tractors to shut down long stretches of road and slow traffic on some major routes.
The farmers are seeking better pay for their produce, less red tape, and protection against cheap imports, AP has reported.
In 2022, a man disguised as an elderly woman in a wheelchair threw cake at the famous painting.
The perpetrator, wearing a wig and lipstick, called on people to “think of the Earth” as they were led from the scene.
The artwork had the glass installed in the 1950s to protect it after an acid attack. It was upgraded to armoured glass in 2005.
