Two protesters who were involved with the Riposte Alimentaire throw soup onto the Mona Lisa at Paris’ Louvre museum on Jan. 28, 2024. The orange liquid landed on the painting’s bulletproof glass casing, and the Renaissance masterpiece suffered no damage.

Leonardo da Vinci's famous painting from the 16th Century is in the Louvre in Paris. Many people visit every year to see, take pictures, or pose with the small artwork, which is about 2.5 feet tall and less than two feet wide

The Louvre staff mentioned the art is safe behind glass, and there was no harm. Protesters, advocating for a healthy food system, questioned in French if art is more crucial than the right to good and sustainable food, expressing concerns about the agricultural system. “What is more important? Art or the right to have a healthy and sustainable food system?  Our agricultural system is sick.”

A group focused on food sustainability, named "Riposte Alimentaire" which translates to "Food Response," took responsibility for the incident in posts on X (formerly Twitter). 

The group expressed a desire to raise awareness about hunger in France and the problems with food production, advocating for including food in the overall social security system.  “The integration of food into the general social security system."

According to its website, Riposte Alimentaire is associated with the A22 Network, a group of activist organizations, like Just Stop Oil, which staged a protest on Vincent Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" in London in 2022 as part of climate activism.