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Mona Lisa in English breakfast tea attack
Peter Allen, in Paris11.08.09
A woman was being held in Paris today after attacking the Mona Lisa with a cup of English breakfast tea.
A ceramic mug full of the steaming brew was emptied all over the most famous work of art in the world in front of stunned security guards at the French capital's Louvre Museum.
They wrestled the Russian to the ground following the attack on August 2nd a Sunday - which has only just been reported.
Leonardo Da Vinci's priceless masterpiece, which is known at La Joconde in France, is surrounded by bullet-proof glass which is also designed to resist heat, humidity and vibrations.
'The painting is intact and unharmed, but this violent attack was hugely worrying,' said a source at the museum.
'The woman ordered a cup of English breakfast tea in a museum cafi before heading for La Joconde and flinging the liquid all over it.
'She was arrested by security guards immediately and the police were called. She is still being held while enquiries continue.'
The Mona Lisa, which portrays an enigmatic 16th Century Italian woman, was visited by 8.5 million people last year.
Its fame is often attributed to its troubled history, with theft and vandalism often carried out by people with a mental disorder known as Stendhal syndrome - confusion and irrational behaviour caused by being exposed to fine art.
In 1956 acid was thrown at the painting and in a second attack in the same year it was further damaged when a rock was thrown at it.
The Mona Lisa had also suffered superficial damage when an Italian museum employee stole it from the Louvre in 1911 before being caught two years later when he tried to sell it back to his home country.
Cleaning and re-varnishing has taken place ever since Da Vinci finished working on the painting in around 1507.
In 2005 the Mona Lisa was moved to a supposedly secure, climate controlled location in the Louvre's Salle des Etats.
The last major attack on a Paris masterpieces came in October 2007 when Claude Monet's Bridge at Argenteuil was punched by a drunk youth who had broken into the Orsay museum.
And in January 2008 a Mathematics professor broke a statue of the classical philosopher Seneque in the Louvre.
Following the latest attack on the Mona Lisa, a Paris police spokesman said: 'A woman was immediately arrested on August 2nd. She is still being held and questioned following psychiatric tests.
'The attack took place on the first Sunday of the month, when works of art at the Louvre are open to the public for free. Crowds are naturally far larger, and everything is done to prevent these types of attack.'
Reader views (16)
Thank you. What about some bisquits to go along next time?
- Mona Lisa, Paris, France
Apparently she threw the tea because she was upset at
not being granted French nationality.
What's the betting that she turns up here and is
immdediately given a British passport!? Would anyone
be surprised if it happened?
- Lb, Bromley
Nowan King is not aware of the pain and destruction to a body that a cup of steaming or boiling tea can cause. And that it is now recommended to allow the tea to cool for at least four minutes in a normal tea cup (not a heat retaining one) as the heat can cause cancer of the throat.
- Helen, norwich
Why the emphasis on it being English breakfast tea? Surely, when you'e throwing a hot beverage around, you should use Hurl Gray?
Still, might have been worse - it could have been nicked by a tea-leaf.
Then I suppose In-tea-pol would have been called in.
- Jargonaut, South London
And how throwing a mug full of the steaming brew be defined as a very violent attack? What nonsense!
- John Smith, Londonistan, EUSSR
Are you trying to defend one of your lot, seeing as you're from the EUSSR then?!!
- Nowan King, London
I'm surprised she managed to get near it due to the fact it's usually surrounded by hundreds of people, making contemplation near impossible. There's also a barrier to keep people away. Finally, how did she carry a cup of tea from the cafe to the gallery unchallenged?
- Blue Baby, London
Should have been red bull,that would have livened up the old misery
- Jim, Basildon, Essex
next time, two sugars please
- Sue Davies, plymouth, england
"Stendhal syndrome - confusion and irrational behaviour caused by being exposed to fine art."
Is it April 1st?
- St, London
Is the woman mad????
What a waste of good cup of english tea!!!!
- C Cusano, Bedford
You do get some weirdos around..............
- Nowan King, London
Mona Lisa, Mona Lisa
A woman has maimed you
You're now the tea lady with the mystic smile
Is it only cause you're a sourpus
She did burn you
For that Mona Lisa strangeness in your smile
Do you smile to cover some soreness, Mona Lisa
Or is this your way to hide a secret cream tea
Many drinks have been brought to your doorstep
They just fly there, or they brew there
Are you warm, are you real, Mona Lisa
Or just a cold and lonely, slightly burnt work of art ?
- Malcolm, Sussex
Would that be the same ENGLISH TEA that grows in abundance upon our vast, numberless plantations across this sceptred isle, set in a silver sea?
- Ted, London
The Mona Lisa portrait is extremely well protected behind armoured glass, so there is no way anyone could damage it, unless they use a powerful exploding device, that is.
And how throwing a mug full of the steaming brew be defined as a very violent attack? What nonsense!
- John Smith, Londonistan, EUSSR
Mona Teaser?
- Adam, Harrow, UK
Bet that took the smile off her face!
- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex
