An employee holds up the frame of an original early 19th century replica of the Mona Lisa, in Paris at the Christie’s auction house on 9 November, 2021. – This interpretation of the famous painting of Leonard De Vinci, called the castle of Isle de Noe, from the name of the place where it has been kept in the Gers, southern France, since its acquisition by William de Noe in 1845-1846, has remained until today completely unknown to the market and has never appeared in a public sale. The auction will be on 23 November, 2021, and is estimated at 60 000 to 100 000 euros. Photo: Thomas COEX / AFP
Man disguised with wig smears Mona Lisa with cake
A man wearing woman’s wig on Sunday, jumped out a wheel chair and smeared The Mona Lisa with a cake at the Louvre museum in Paris
An employee holds up the frame of an original early 19th century replica of the Mona Lisa, in Paris at the Christie’s auction house on 9 November, 2021. – This interpretation of the famous painting of Leonard De Vinci, called the castle of Isle de Noe, from the name of the place where it has been kept in the Gers, southern France, since its acquisition by William de Noe in 1845-1846, has remained until today completely unknown to the market and has never appeared in a public sale. The auction will be on 23 November, 2021, and is estimated at 60 000 to 100 000 euros. Photo: Thomas COEX / AFP
The Mona Lisa was smeared with cake at the weekend by a man in a woman’s wig who jumped out of a wheelchair and said artists should focus more on the planet.
Officials at the Louvre Museum in Paris, where the enigmatic portrait holds pride of place, declined to comment on Monday on the bizarre incident, which was captured on several phones and posted on social media on Sunday.
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THE MONA LISA
The treasured work by Leonardo da Vinci, which has been the target of vandalism attempts in the past, was unharmed thanks to its protective bulletproof glass case.
A Twitter user identified as Lukeee posted a video showing a museum employee wiping what he says is cake off the glass and another showing a man dressed in white being escorted away by security guards.
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A MAN IN A WOMAN’S WIG
“A man dressed as an old lady jumps out of a wheelchair and attempted to smash the bulletproof glass of the Mona Lisa. Then proceeds to smear cake on the glass and throws roses everywhere, all before being tackled by security,”
Lukeee wrote.
“There are people who are destroying the Earth… All artists, think about the Earth. That’s why I did this. Think of the planet.”
Speaking French, the man says:
No image have emerged showing the actual incident.
THE LOUVRE MUSEUM
The Mona Lisa has been behind glass since a Bolivian man threw a rock at the painting in December 1956, damaging her left elbow. In 2005, it was placed in a reinforced case that also controls temperature and humidity.
In 2009, a Russian woman threw an empty teacup at the painting, which slightly scratched the case.
The Louvre is the largest museum in the world, housing hundreds of thousands of works that attracted some 10 million visitors a year before the Covid-19 pandemic.
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© Agence France-Presse
