The world’s most famous smile was briefly obscured on Sunday when a man smeared a cream cake on Mona Lisa, in what appears to have been a climate protest.
Leonardo da Vinci’s 16th-century masterpiece was not touched, however, as it is protected behind bulletproof glass in the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Social media quickly became enlightened with videos posted by tourists who were in the gallery at the time.
Visitors reported that a man disguised himself as an elderly lady in a wheelchair, presumably to be able to access the place right in front of the box reserved for the disabled. He then got up and spread the cream cake on the glass box that protects the Renaissance painting.
Visitors take photos and videos of the painting “The Mona Lisa” after the cake was spread on the protective glass of the Louvre Museum in Paris on May 29, 2022, in this screenshot obtained from a social media video. Twitter / @ klevisl007 / via REUTERS
As the security guards pounced on him, the man, who was wearing a wig and make-up, threw red roses at their feet.
As they drove him, the man said to the crowd, in French, “Think of the Earth. There are people who are destroying the Earth. Think of it … all artists, think of the Earth; that’s why I did that… think of the planet. “
The Louvre issued a statement on Monday saying the painting had not been damaged. The museum said the man had hidden the cake inside his personal belongings.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said on Monday that the 36-year-old man had been arrested after Sunday’s incident and sent to a police psychiatric unit to be evaluated. An investigation has been opened into damage to cultural objects.