The Louvre briefly evacuated one its busiest rooms on Monday after black-clad environmental activists staged a protest against oil giant Total's patronage of the Paris museum.

About a dozen protesters lay down on the floor in front of "The Raft of the Medusa", an iconic 19th-century painting by Theodore Gericault showing the shipwreck of a French navy frigate.

The demonstrators entered inconspicuously before lying down in front of the painting chanting slogans against Total, an AFP reporter said.

The Louvre confirmed it had evacuated museum-goers from the room for around 10 minutes after the protest around 10.30 am (0930 GMT).

The activist group 350.org, which campaigns against the use of fossil fuels in favour of renewable energy, said it staged the demonstration "to symbolise victims of the oil industry".

The same group carried out a similar protest at the Louvre in March last year in front of an ancient Greek statue, the Winged Victory of Samothrace.

Some 30 activists had laid a long stretch of black fabric at the base of the statue to symbolise a river of oil, urging the Louvre to end its two-decade collaboration with Total.

The Total Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the energy giant, supports a range of causes from education to the arts.

Activists have carried out similar protests against fellow oil giant BP in London for its sponsorship of the Tate Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery and the British Museum.

A group of activist groups led by 350.org have launched the "Free the Louvre" campaign.

The US-founded group takes its name from 350 parts per million, which it says is the safe concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

jab-fa-cho/kjl/js/dl

BP

TOTAL

Related Links
Climate Science News - Modeling, Mitigation Adaptation

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Desertification and monsoon climate change linked to shifts in ice volume and sea level
Uppsala, Sweden (SPX) Mar 08, 2018
The East Asian summer monsoon and desertification in Eurasia is driven by fluctuating Northern Hemisphere ice volume and global sea level during the Ice Age, as shown in a study published in Nature Communications. Today, two thirds of the world's population is dependent on agriculture sustained by rains of the East Asian summer monsoon, and future climate change in this region can therefore have a major impact on global food production. Huge areas of central China is covered by a plateau consistin ... read more