“Unlocking the Enigma: Discover the Hidden Mysteries Behind the Mona Lisa’s Smile”
Of course, after the case was solved and the Mona Lisa returned to the Louvre, by now a global superstar, some didn’t want to admire her ambiguous smile and sfumato brushwork, but rather, destroy it. Yes, unfortunately, it is a common occurrence for pieces of famous art to become a target for vandals and demonstrators of all persuasions – and the Mona Lisa is no exception.
The first acts of vandalism took place in 1956, when our favourite Tuscan lady was attacked not once, but twice! While the painting was being exhibited in Montauban, southern France, a vandal tried to deface it with acid for unclear reasons. Miraculously, the Mona Lisa was unharmed and was returned to the Louvre.
On December 30 of the same year, a homeless Bolivian man hurled a rock at the masterpiece, damaging a small speck of paint on Lisa’s elbow. The perpetrator had no particular beef against Tuscan middle-class women, he allegedly simply wanted to be arrested so he could spend some nights in a warm bed in prison. Or, so it is claimed. Given there are easier ways to accomplish that than trying to destroy one of the world’s most famous paintings intentionally, which certainly could see you get a lot more than just a few days in prison, let’s just say color us sceptical that was the real motivation. As per the minor damage, it was easily restored, and from then on the painting would be protected by a bullet proof glass pane.
This see-through shield proved very handy in April 1974, when Mona Lisa was on tour in Japan, at the Tokyo National Museum. A paraplegic woman, incensed at the lack of accessible facilities for wheelchair users, spray-painted the masterpiece in protest. Of course, none of the bright red tint made it through the glass pane, and the painting was not damaged.
