Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Poor Mona

I feel that my education was surely lacking in the art history arena, since it was not until today that I learned that people like to vandalize the Mona Lisa. Did you know that:

1. It was stolen in 1911 from the Louvre, and the true thief, an Italian who believed it should be displayed in Italy, was not discovered until two years later when he tried to sell it? Also, the first suspect, who did not turn out to be involved, had threatened to burn down the Louvre in the past.
2. In 1956, it was damaged when someone threw acid on it?
3. Later in 1956 someone threw a rock at it?
4. On August 2, 2009, a deranged woman threw a mug at it, and was taken to a psychiatric institution, where it was determined that she was mad at France for not taking her as a citizen. The good news is, the museum finally wised up and installed bulletproof glass in front of the painting.

It's all true. The Internet told me so.

No comments: