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Video shows man disguised as old woman in wheelchair smearing cake on Da Vinci's Mona Lisa

A man dressed as an old woman reportedly threw cake at the portrait and attempted to smash the glass that protects it from such attacks

A man dressed up as an elderly woman threw a cake at Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece, the Mona Lisa, at the Louvre on Sunday, May 29. According to the reports, the man wore a wig and posed as an elderly woman in a wheelchair before entering the Louvre art museum in Paris, France. Once he reached near the work of art, he reportedly threw cake at the painting and attempted to smash the bulletproof glass that protects it from just such an attack.

Art fans at the Louvre were left stunned after an "old woman" jumped out of her wheelchair to smear cake over the Mona Lisa. Those in charge of the museum's security rushed to eject the man from the room, while the rest of those present continued to photograph the situation nonstop. Louvre security workers rushed to remove the attacker from the building and clean the glass.

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Several videos and photos about the incident surfaced on the internet. A user shared the video of the incident and wrote, "Maybe this is just nuts to me, but a man dressed as an old lady jumped out of a wheelchair and attempted to smash the bulletproof glass of the Mona Lisa."

Another user wrote, "A guy has thrown a cake at the Mona Lisa to raise awareness about the destruction of the planet. Everything in order to be Sunday."

The man went on to smear cake on the glass, and threw roses everywhere all before being tackled by security and began to shout. "Think of the earth, artists think of the earth. All artists think of the earth. That's why I did it," he yelled, explaining the motive behind his stunt. "Think of the planet." However, his bizarre choice of environmental protest certainly got people talking.

Fortunately, despite smearing cake on the Mona Lisa, the painting is protected by bulletproof glass, leaving Leonardo Da Vinci's most famous artwork completely unharmed. The painting, created between 1503 and 1519 by Da Vinci, is the busiest room in The Louvre, with mobs of tourists trying to catch their own glimpse of the iconic artwork themselves every single day.

This is not the first time that Mona Lisa has been attacked. Various Attempts to deface, steal, or use the 77 by 53-centimeter canvas to raise awareness for various causes have been made throughout history. The painting was stolen in 1911 by an Italian handyman named Vincenzo Peruggia. He was not caught until two years later and some experts believe that the theft was what truly put the famously enigmatic smile on the map.

“If a different one of Leonardo’s works had been stolen, then that would have been the most famous work in the world – not the Mona Lisa,” said Noah Charney, who is an art history professor, and author.

“There was nothing that really distinguished it per se, other than it was a very good work by a very famous artist – that’s until it was stolen. The theft is what really skyrocketed its appeal and made it a household name,” he added. 

According to a report by Marca.com, “A man threw sulfuric acid at it in the 1950s, which had an effect on the painting, and a Bolivian student hit it with a stone. A woman in a wheelchair sprayed red paint on her wheelchair while she was at an exhibition in Tokyo in 1974, expressing her dissatisfaction with the lack of access ramps,” the outlet reported.