The Mona Lisa Eats Soup
The world's most famous painting, the world's favourite protest target
Image: Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
- Repair Cost
- None (bulletproof glass)
- Curator's Blood Pressure
- 79%
- Embarrassment Level
- 3/10
- Recovered?
- Unharmed
- Selfie Involved?
- No
Two activists from Riposte Alimentaire hurled pumpkin soup at the Mona Lisa's protective glass, demanding a 'healthy and sustainable food system'. The bulletproof glazing shrugged it off.
On 28 January 2024 crowds packed into the Louvre for a glimpse of Leonardo's masterpiece and instead watched soup arc through the air. The activists ducked beneath the barriers and shouted about the right to healthy food while guards surrounded the painting.
Thanks to bulletproof glass installed decades earlier, the Mona Lisa escaped unharmed. It has now survived theft, acid, rocks, a teacup, cake and soup — and at this point its protective glass has arguably become almost as famous as the painting behind it.