Ever wondered what questions you would ask if the Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece ever magically gained the ability to talk? Solve the mystery of who she was in real life, once and for all, obviously! But you better not ask her to recount how life as a painting is going because Mona Lisa’s most recent memory would be getting drenched in soup.
Yep, apart from being the subject of never-ending debates among admirers and researchers, the original Mona Lisa, residing in the Louvre Museum in Paris, has been a prime target for vandalism throughout the years and history repeated itself on Jan. 28, 2024, when two women stunned the crowd present by hurling pumpkin soup at the painting.
What was the reason behind this particular soup-throwing incident?
The two women were actually protestors, associated with the climate activist group Riposte Alimentaire – which literally translates to “food counterattack – that establishes itself as being devoted to bringing across climate change and sustainable agriculture. The group has also confirmed that they are responsible for the stunt and have shared in their statement (via New York Post) that the act of vandalizing the Mona Lisa marks the beginning of a “civil resistance” to secure the “social security of sustainable food.”
Before being swiftly removed by the security at the museum, the two protestors pointed out the “sick” agricultural system and how “farmers are dying at work,” before questioning the crowd about what deserves more importance — “Art or the right to healthy and sustainable food?”
Mona Lisa’s vandalism comes in the wake of the ongoing protests of farmers against the French government that saw major roads in and out of Paris being blocked. Why? They seek better pay, to curb the alarmingingly high fuel costs, and to get proper regulations in place.
So, is the Mona Lisa now destroyed?
Nope! The painting has been safely lounging behind a glass wall since the early 1950s when a visitor poured acid on it and a man threw a rock at it. The glass became bulletproof back in 2005, but still remained the subject of vandalism, with the most latest incident — prior to the soup throwing – being the instance when it got a handful of custard pie by an activist in 2022 who accused artists of not thinking about the Earth.