Who are The Riposte Alimentaire? Details explored as video of climate activists hurling soup at Mona Lisa in Paris' Louvre Museum goes viral

Calling for "healthy and sustainable food," two female environmental protestors threw soup onto the Mona Lisa at the Louvre in Paris on Sunday, January 28. However, luckily, as it was hidden behind bulletproof glass, the painting looked undamaged.

In the video of the viral incident, both the protestors can be seen dressed in t-shirts that read "Riposte Alimentaire," which means "food response." It refers to a group of activists fighting climate change.

As per sources like BBC, the protest aimed to draw attention to the need to protect the environment and food sources.

Along with Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion, Riposte Alimentaire is a member of the A22 umbrella movement, a collection of protest organizations operating in 12 countries. Furthermore, according to the group, the incident resulted from a "new campaign" demanding "the establishment of sustainable food social security."

The attack on Leonardo da Vinci's masterwork, Mona Lisa, and the expression of the visitors, who were stunned by the event, were all captured on video and uploaded to different social media platforms.

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The climate activists who tried to damage the Mona Lisa were hurled out of the museum after the incident

A couple of climate activists recently attacked the Mona Lisa (Image via Louvre)

The Mona Lisa in Paris' Louvre Museum is shielded from harm by a glass barrier; therefore, it was not damaged when the climate activists splashed soup on it. In the viral video, two ladies can be heard yelling, "Our farming system is sick," as they duck by a security barrier to get close to the artwork.

In the viral footage, the demonstrators can be seen hurling what look to be tomato soup cans at the painting before baring their t-shirts. The Riposte Alimentaire environmental protest group's slogan appeared in bold black letters on the T-shirt.

The term "food response" refers to the demonstrators' demand for easy access to wholesome, sustainably produced food.

The Riposte Alimentaire group defines itself as a collective devoted to promoting action on climate change and sustainable agriculture. The organization said on its website that the French government is not honoring its climate pledges. They have further demanded the establishing of a healthcare system analogous to France's state-sponsored healthcare system to improve people's access to food while giving farmers a proper income.

In the video, one of the protesters can be heard shouting,

"What's the most important thing? Art, or right to healthy and sustainable food?"

They further added,

"Our farming system is sick, our farmers are dying at work."

Then, to conceal the Mona Lisa picture and keep the public from witnessing the incident, museum employees raced to the painting to clean it and cover it. Since 2005, the painting has been shielded by protective glass. This indicates that the picture remained undamaged. However, the staff still instructed the guests to leave the room immediately.

Louver security personnel took the protestors away after ducking beneath a security barrier to get as close to the picture as possible.

Since many other attacks on artworks have resulted in tight security restrictions at most major galleries, questions were raised about how the women transported the soup into the Louvre.

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The event happened during the days-long protests by the French farmers demanding adequate pay and other securities.

This isn't the first time that the Mona Lisa has been attacked. A man hurled a cake at it while yelling, "Think of the planet," in 2022.

On the other hand, this isn't the only time someone tried to damage a painting. In 2022, the Just Stop Oil group spilled tomato soup on Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers at the National Gallery in London.