How Will Throwing Soup at the ‘Mona Lisa’ Save the Planet?
30th January 2024
Now the environmentalists are going after the “Mona Lisa.” Because of course they are. Just when you thought you couldn’t dislike these apocalyptic irritants anymore, now they’ve gone and pelted soup at another priceless artwork, the most famous artwork in the world no less, because they think their fever dreams about climate change are more important than ordinary people getting to marvel at da Vinci’s masterpiece.
Two activists from Riposte Alimentaire — France’s answer to JustStopOil, only with a particular interest in food policy — took their chance at the Louvre yesterday. After emptying a bottle of orange gloop on to the “Mona Lisa,” one of the women was captured on video shouting: “What is more important: art or the right to a healthy and sustainable diet?” They were blocked off by screens before being removed.
Thankfully, the painting wasn’t damaged. The “Mona Lisa” has been behind safety glass since the 1950s, after a vandal hurled acid at it. In 2009, a Russian woman — apparently upset by the rejection of her citizenship application — threw a mug at the painting, smashing only the mug. This isn’t the first time a climate nutter has had a go, either. In 2022, a young man disguised himself as an elderly woman, so he could get close enough to smear cake over the glass, all while shouting “think of the planet.”