Man smears cake in vandalism attack on the Mona Lisa
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PARIS • Luke Sundberg and his friends were in line on Sunday inside the Louvre in Paris, waiting to pose for a photo in front of the Mona Lisa, when they heard gasps.
A man dressed as a woman had sprung from a wheelchair and ducked under a rope barrier separating the painting from the crowd of about 100 people. The visitors watched in disbelief as he pounded on the glass shielding the painting.
Then, Mr Sundberg said, the man smeared what appeared to be cake all over the glass protecting what is one of the world's most recognisable pieces of art. "I was in awe," said Mr Sundberg, 20, a first-year student at Colby Community College in Kansas. "It's something so historic that seems untouchable."
The protester, whom officials have not named, faked a disability to get close to the Mona Lisa on Sunday, said the Louvre. The painting was not damaged, museum officials said. Videos on social media showed the man, speaking in French, yelling that there were "people who were destroying the planet" and "that's why I did it".
The Mona Lisa, painted by Leonardo da Vinci in the 16th century and perhaps the crown jewel of the Louvre collection, is typically swarmed by tourists. It is held behind a thick glass case.
After the man smeared the glass, he was tackled by security guards, Mr Sundberg said.
There have been several attempts to vandalise the painting, some more successful than others. In 1956, a man threw a stone, shattering a glass shield and scratching Mona Lisa's left elbow, causing a chip of paint to fall off. In 1911, the Mona Lisa was stolen by three Italian handymen and recovered 28 months later. In the 1950s, a visitor attacked it with acid. In 2009, a woman threw a teacup at its glass.
People who engage in such stunts usually just want to get on television, said Mr Stevan Layne, the founding director of the International Foundation for Cultural Property Protection and a former director of security at the Denver Art Museum. "They're not really accomplishing anything," he said.
NYTIMES
