Mona Lisa Attacked with Teacup

mona lisa, originally uploaded by julie wilson world.

PARIS — An angry Russian woman pulled a teacup out of her purse and threw it at the Mona Lisa on Aug. 2, the Louvre said on Tuesday. The Da Vinci masterpiece, which is protected by bulletproof glass, was undamaged. “The work is intact, and viewing was only disturbed the time it took to pick up the pieces,” said David Madec, a Louvre spokesman. The woman was taken to the police psychiatric infirmary. “She was clearly deranged,” a police spokesman said.

This is the latest in a long history of attacks on the portrait, which was stolen in 1911 by an Italian nationalist before being returned in 1913. In 1956, it was doused with acid. Later that same year, a man damaged the painting by throwing a rock at it.