Visitors to the Louvre Museum in Paris witnessed a bizarre attempt at vandalism on Sunday. A man, dressed as an old woman and sitting in a wheelchair, jumped out and tried to deface Leonardo DaVinci’s Mona Lisa painting. He first tried to break the bullet-proof glass, then smeared cake all over the case while talking about why artists are responsible for global warming.
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BuzzFeed News gives a translation of the vandal’s speech, which was originally in French.
“Think about the Earth. There are people who are in the process of destroying the Earth. Think about them! Artists should think about the Earth! All artists think about the Earth. That’s why I did it.”
Videos of the vandalism in progress have yet to surface, but there were plenty of bystanders describing what happened. The event has indeed gone viral over the internet.
The man apparently was allowed to move closer to the painting due to his “disability.” Here is a picture of the wheelchair.
One person posts to Twitter, “Maybe this is just nuts to me… but a 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.???”
Another Twitter user posted a video of an employee cleaning up the mess. The poster later jokes that the Mona Lisa “looks fatter” after being smeared with cake. Twitter hilariously marks the post as “potentially sensitive content,” as of course the Mona Lisa is close many people’s hearts.
A Louvre Museum statement acknowledges that the attack on the painting involved a “patisserie.” The same statement also assures that the painting is unharmed following the attack.
The 36-year-old man responsible was taken into custody. His name has not been released.
The Mona Lisa was painted in 1503 and has undergone a series of attacks over the years, like many artworks of similar fame. Hence, the painting is currently held under bullet-proof glass and in a temperature and humidity-controlled case.