Protesters threw soup at the glass-protected "Mona Lisa" in the Louvre Museum in Paris on Sunday.
In a video of the stunt, two women can be seen splashing orange-colored soup on the artwork while one of them shouts: "What's more important — art or the right to healthy, sustainable food? Our agricultural system is sick. Our farmers are dying at work."
<
ALERTE - Des militantes pour le climat jettent de la soupe sur le tableau de La Joconde au musée du Louvre. @CLPRESSFRpic.twitter.com/Aa7gavRRc4
The painting is encased in bullet-proof glass and is unlikely to have been damaged by the action.
The activists were from the French organization "Riposte Alimentaire" (Food Response), which issued a statement saying the protest aimed to highlight the need to protect the environment and sources of food.
It comes as French farmers stage protests demanding better pay, simplified regulations, and protection against cheap imports. For days, angry farmers have been blocking roads with their tractors across the country, and some have pledged to converge on Paris on Monday.
Famous paintings in the crosshairs
It's not the first time Leonardo da Vinci's 16th-century masterpiece has been targeted.
In May 2022, an activist threw cake at the painting.
Climate activists seeking to pressure governments to do more to tackle global warming and phase out fossil fuels have staged similar protests in other European capital cities, including Rome, London and Vienna.
In October 2022, activists threw soup at Vincent Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" at London's National Gallery. One month later, campaigners glued themselves to Goya paintings in Madrid's Prado museum.