Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

International News

Man in wig throws cake at glass protecting Mona Lisa

FILE – Visitors pose in front of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa in the Louvre museum, Wednesday, May, 19, 2021 in Paris. A man seemingly disguised as an old woman in a wheelchair threw a piece of cake at the glass protecting the Mona Lisa on Sunday May 29, 2022 at the Louvre Museum and shouted at people to think of planet Earth. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)

PARIS (AP) — A man seemingly disguised as an old woman in a wheelchair threw a piece of cake at the glass protecting the Mona Lisa at the Louvre Museum and shouted at people to think of 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. 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 to slack-jawed guests.

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! 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.”

The 16th-century Renaissance masterpiece has seen a lot in its over-500 years in existence.

The painting was stolen in 1911 by a museum employee, an event which increased the painting’s international fame. It 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.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Source: https://apnews.com/article/travel-louvre-museum-fe4c4de7b7285450f4c1a81c5fb5dd48

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You May Also Like

Business News

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A neurosurgeon investigating a woman’s mystery symptoms in an Australian hospital says she plucked a wriggling worm from the patient’s...

Business News

When philosophy professor Darren Hick came across another case of cheating in his classroom at Furman University last semester, he posted an update to...

Business News

RHODES, Greece (AP) — Tourists at a seaside hotel on the Greek island of Rhodes snatched up pails of pool water and damp towels...

Cyber Security

All appointments for Swiss (Schengen) tourist and transit visas have been cancelled across the UK. TLScontact, the Swiss government’s chosen IT provider for facilitating visa applicants...

Copyright © 2023 Newsworthy News | Global | Political | Local | All News | Website By: Top Search SEO