Man in Wig Throws Cake at Glass Protecting Mona Lisa
Man, who appeared to be an elderly woman in a wheelchair, threw a piece cake at the Mona Lisa glass at the Louvre Museum. He shouted at everyone to remember planet Earth.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said Monday that the 36-year-old man was detained following Sunday’s incident and sent to a police psychiatric unit. A probe has been launched into the destruction of cultural artifacts.
Social media posts showed an unidentified young man wearing a lipstick and wig who arrived in a wheelchair. He was also seen throwing roses at slack-jawed visitors in the museum gallery.
The cake attack left a conspicuous white creamy smear on the glass but the famous work by Leonardo da Vinci wasn’t damaged.
Security guards were filmed escorting the wig-wearing man away as he called out to the surprised visitors in the gallery: “Think of the Earth! People are ruining the Earth. It is a terrible situation. It’s a common saying among artists: Think of the Earth. That’s why I did this.”
The glass was then removed by guards. A Louvre statement confirmed the attack on the artwork involving a “patisserie.”
This 16th century Renaissance gem has been through a lot during its more than 500 years of existence.
Continue reading: A French Researcher Believes There’s a Painting Hidden Under Mona Lisa
The painting was stolen in 1911 by a museum employee, an event which increased the painting’s international fame. In the 1950s an acid attack by a vandal caused damage to it. It has since been hidden behind glass.
A 2009 Russian woman was furious at being denied French citizenship. She threw her ceramic cup at the cup, breaking the glass but not the painting.
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