Climate activist disguised as old woman throws cake at Mona Lisa painting in protest of the planet Earth at Louvre. Man is arrested and taken to Paris psychiatric unit.
A man disguised as an old woman in a wheelchair threw a piece of cake at the glass protecting the Mona Lisa at the Louvre Museum in protest of the planet Earth over the weekend.
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. An investigation has been opened into the damage of cultural artifacts.
Videos posted on social media showed a young man in a wig and lipstick who had arrived in a wheelchair. The man, whose identity was unknown, was also seen throwing roses in the museum gallery.
The cake attack left a white creamy smear on the glass but the famous work by Leonardo da Vinci wasn’t damaged according to AP.
Posted video showed someone clearing the cake off the glass protecting the Mona Lisa, as onlookers held up their phones to film the incident’s aftermath.
Try to smash the Mona Lisa and smear it with cake — French police politely usher you out of the Louvre.
Try to support Liverpool in the Champions League final — French police pepper-spray, tear-gas and bully you on your way into the stadium. pic.twitter.com/PlLgLKz1zs— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) May 30, 2022
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
Not the first disturbance
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! There are people who are destroying the Earth! Think about it. Artists tell you: think of the Earth. That’s why I did this.’
Guards were then filmed cleaning the cake from the glass. A Louvre statement confirmed the attack on the artwork involving a ‘patisserie.’
It’s not the first time the 16th-century Renaissance masterpiece has been exposed to disturbances.
The painting was stolen in 1911 by a museum employee, an event which increased the painting’s international fame. For more than two years, there were no hints on where it could be, until someone tried to sell the painting to an Italian art dealer, who informed authorities.
The masterpiece was also damaged in an acid attack perpetrated by a vandal in the 1950s, and has since been kept behind glass.
In 2009, a Russian woman who was angry at not being able to get French citizenship threw a ceramic cup at it, smashing the cup but not harming the glass or the painting.
The things that Mona Lisa is asked to endure. Indeed.
