Man throws cake at Mona Lisa, Lubricant on glass box
According to the Louvre museum in Paris, a protester who pretended to be disabled to get close to the Mona Lisa in a wheelchair stood up and smeared a cake on its glass case on Sunday, according to the Louvre museum in Paris.
Museum officials said the painting, one of the world’s most famous works of art, was undamaged.
Videos on social media showed the man speaking in French shouting “there are people destroying the planet” and “that’s why I did it.”
The Mona Lisa, painted by Leonardo da Vinci in the 16th century and perhaps the crown jewel of the Louvre’s collection, is often drawn to camera-wielding tourists. The painting is housed behind a thick glass cabinet, an effective shield from the pastries.
A witness posted a video of the aftermath on Twitter said the man was “dressed up like an old woman” and jumped out of his wheelchair before attempting to break the glass.
The witness said the unidentified man smeared the cake, which the witness identified as a pastry, before throwing the rose around the room. The witness said he was later arrested by security guards.
The Louvre said in a statement that museum officials followed normal procedures for people with reduced mobility, “allowing them to admire this important work of the Louvre.”
The museum said that when he got close to the painting, the man threw the cake he was hiding.
The museum said security officers arrested the man and escorted him out before handing him over to police. Officials say the museum has filed a complaint.
There have been several attempts to sabotage the picture, some more successful than others. In 1956, a man throw a stone at the painting, shattering the glass shield and scratching the Mona Lisa’s left elbow, causing a patch of paint to fall off.
The man initially said that he had no real reason to do this. “I had a stone in my pocket and suddenly I had the idea of throwing it away,” police quoted him as saying.
Then he said he has no job, no money and simply wants to be jailed in cold weather.
The painting was moved behind glass, at the time the only work in the Louvre to be protected as such, because years earlier a man who said he “loved the painting” had tried to do so. tried to steal it after cutting it with a razor blade. .
In 2009, a woman throw a cup of tea into the cup. The teacup was shattered and order was quickly restored.