Russian Woman Throws Cup at Mona Lisa in Louvre

A Russian woman threw a cup at Leonardo Da Vinci’s world-known Mona Lisa painting in the Louvre Museum. The woman threw the cup in a fit of anger, after authorities declined French citizenship to her, an official spokesperson for the museum told RIA Novosti news agency.

“The incident took place on August 2. The woman threw an empty cup at Mona Lisa, but the cup broke into pieces as it hit the protective screen. The woman was visiting the museum alone,” the museum’s spokesperson said.

The police detained the woman immediately. It was later said that she was a Russian national. The woman told the police that she was very upset with the decision not to grant French citizenship to her.

“We filed a petition in court,” the source at the French museum told the news agency.

The woman is free at the moment. The date of the hearings has not been determined yet.

Mona Lisa (also known as La Gioconda) is owned by the Government of France and is on the wall in the Louvre in Paris, France with the title “Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo.” It is perhaps the most famous painting in the world.

In 1956, the lower part of the painting was severely damaged when a vandal doused the painting with acid. On December 30 of that same year a young Bolivian damaged the painting by throwing a rock at it. This resulted in the loss of a speck of pigment near the left elbow, which was later painted over. Afterwards, the painting was placed behind bullet-proof glass.