‘Think of the earth’ says 36-year-old man who threw cake at Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous painting in protest of the environment.
The Mona Lisa is quite possibly the most famous painting in human history. painted by Leonardo Da Vinici in 1797, now on permanent display in the Louvre Museum, Paris, people come from around the world to get a glimpse of her famously enigmatic smile. As such, the painting has witnessed a number of bizarre and outlandish circumstances. From kidnapping to fleeing Nazi treasure hunters and countless redesigns by other artists monkeying with her.
However, footage taken at the Louvre on Sunday (29 May), shows the aftermath of one of the most bizarre incidents to happen to the Mona Lisa taking place in the painting’s gallery room, and has since gone viral on social media.
According to witness accounts, a man disguised himself as an old woman, wearing lipstick and a wig, lept from a wheelchair attempting to smash the bulletproof glass, failing to do so, and instead smearing the glass with cake. You can watch the video here:
Maybe this is just nuts to me?but an 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
This is not the first time the painting has been the target of vandalism after a Bolivian man threw a rock at the painting in December 1956, damaging her left elbow. However, it has remained unscathed due to since the installation of its bulletproof casing.
The perpetrator was quickly tackled to the ground by Louvre security, A witness on Twitter claimed.
This was not a senseless act of vandalism, however. In another clip, the man suspected to be the cake smearer, speaking in French, explains his reasoning for the attack, saying: “Think of the planet, there are people who are destroying the planet, think about that. That’s why I did it.” before being escorted away by security.
Not given a platform to elaborate further on his reasoning the man was quickly detained and sent to a police psychiatric unit. Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed on Monday, that an inquiry into an attempt to vandalize other cultural works had been opened.
Witnesses in the video were clearly shocked and aghast at the attack, applauding as security cleaned the cake from the painting. It may be the case that the protestor’s concerns and message will have been buried under the media frenzy that the attack has caused.
