If you want proof that we’re truly living in a bizarre time, you don’t have to look any further. In a truly strange piece of news today, the famous Mona Lisa painting at the Louvre in Paris was smeared with cake. If that wasn’t baffling enough, it was done by a man disguised as an elderly woman in a wheelchair.
Let’s try and break down the events. A man jumped from the wheelchair and threw cake on the outer bulletproof glass of the painting. After failing to break through the glass which protects the painting, he began throwing roses in the air before being escorted out by security. Luckily, there’s been no damage to the painting.
While the situation is still developing, reports suggest that the attack was an attempt to draw attention to climate change. In a video shared on Twitter, where the man can be seen being escorted out of the building, he was heard saying “Think of the Earth”.
As shocking as it may see, this isn’t the first time someone has attempted to vandalise Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting. Back in 1974, disabled women upset with the lack of ramp access at the museum sprayed red paint on the artwork, while it was on display at the Tokyo National Museum.
Back in the ’50s, a fan threw sulfuric acid on the painting and it actually did cause some damage. A few years later, a Bolivian student attacked the artwork with a stone. The most recent attempt occurred in the summer of 2009 when a Russian tourist threw a cup of tea on the painting.
There have been multiple attempts at stealing the artwork as well, with the most famous being carried by Vincenzo Peruggia, a museum worker who stole it back in 2011 and went missing for nearly three years. The reason? Patriotism. During his interrogation, Peruggia revealed that he wanted to bring back the painting to Italy after it was stolen by Napoleon.
Of course, the latest attempt at destroying the Mona Lisa news has garnered a variety of reactions on the internet. Some range from genuine concern over the safety at the Louvre to some having a laugh over the absurdity. Here are a few of them:
( Image credits: Twitter )
