She hasn’t lost her legendary smile thanks to her protective glass: Mona Lisa, the most famous painting in the world, was entared on Sunday at the Louvre Museum in Paris. An act without consequence which was committed by a man placed since in the psychiatric infirmary.
The incident occurred in the early afternoon, according to several photos and testimonies posted on social networks Twitter and Instagram by visitors who were in the largest museum in the world at the time of the events.
The images show the protective glass of the portrait with an enigmatic smile smeared with a whitish substance, which is being cleaned by a man who seems to be a museum guard.
Previously, disguised with a wig and a cap, a 36-year-old man “simulated a situation of disability to use a wheelchair and approach the work, installed in a secure showcase” in the room. states, Le Louvre told AFP on Monday.
He then “threw a pastry he had hidden in his personal effects on the display case”, which “had no effect on the painting, which suffered no damage”, added the museum.
Mona Lisapainted by Leonardo da Vinci, has been displayed since 2005 behind armored glass, protected by a special box where humidity and temperature are controlled.
Filing complaint
The man was immediately seized and evacuated by the reception and surveillance agents and then handed over to the police. He was then admitted to the psychiatric infirmary and an investigation was opened for “attempted degradation of cultural property”, we learned Monday from the Paris prosecutor’s office.
The Louvre Museum has announced that it has filed a complaint. He claims to have “applied his usual procedures provided for people with reduced mobility, allowing them to admire this major work” as closely as possible.
Among Twitter users who witnessed the incident live, @lukeXC2002 posted a video which shows the man in question, dressed in white, standing next to his wheelchair and being escorted out by security.
Maybe this is just nuts to me????but a man dressed as an old lady jumps out of a wheel chair and attempted to smash the bullet proof glass of the Mona Lisa. Then proceeds to smear cake on the glass, and throws roses everywhere all before being tackled by security. ??????? pic.twitter.com/OFXdx9eWcM
— Lukeee???? (@lukeXC2002) May 29, 2022
“There are people who are destroying the Earth. […] All artists, think of the Earth. That’s why I did this. Think about the planet,” he says, in French.
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In other images, the wheelchair can be seen placed behind the security cordon which visitors should not normally pass. No photos or videos captured the cake toss.
This is not the first time that the famous painting has been the victim of vandalism.
In August 2009, a Russian visitor was arrested after throwing an empty teacup in the direction of Mona Lisa. The museum then explained that the cup had broken against the armored display case, which had been very slightly scratched.
In December 1956, a Bolivian, threatened with expulsion, threw a stone at Mona Lisa damaging his left elbow. After that, she had been placed behind a secure display case.
The portrait, which was probably begun in Florence around 1503, would be that of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo, a Florentine cloth merchant, whose feminized name earned her the nickname Gioconda.
The masterpiece sees parade each year at the Louvre Museum, which has 37,000 other works, millions of people (ten million visitors per year before COVID-19).
Its theft in 1911 from the Louvre by an Italian worker greatly contributed to its notoriety.