A security guard cleans the smeared cream from the glass protecting the Mona Lisa at the Louvre Museum, in Paris, France, Sunday, May 29, 2022. A man seemingly disguised as an old woman in a wheelchair threw a piece of cake at the glass protecting the Mona Lisa and shouted at people to think of planet Earth. The Paris prosecutor's office said Monday, May 30, 2022 that the man, 36, was detained following Sunday's incident and sent to a police psychiatric unit, and that it had opened an investigation into the damage of cultural artifacts. (@Klevisl007 via AP)
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SALT LAKE CITY — Who doesn’t love a good pie to the face? On TV shows it’s slapstick.
When it’s a protest against a politician… come on. Who doesn’t like seeing the high and mighty with a little meringue on their face?
No harm done. You wipe it off — maybe change your suit and go about your day.
But I draw the line at the most famous painting in the world.
The Mona Lisa.
Since 1797 she’s been hanging in the Louvre in Paris, sort of smiling, staring with eyes that almost follow you around the room.
For 225 years she’s been minding her own business, until the other day an old woman in a wheelchair rolled up on Lisa.
That’s what I call her. Lisa. We’re on a first-name basis.
I saw her in person once.
Did you know the word “mona” actually means “my main squeeze?”
The actual translation is “My Lady Lisa.” It’s a painting of Lisa Del Giocondo from more than 700 years ago.
Cool story: In 1911 she was stolen from the Lourve and Picasso was briefly arrested as a suspect.
So popular was the painting that people lined up to see the empty space where she used to hang.
But ever since, she’s sat quietly till last week when that old woman — who it turns out is not a woman — jumped out of her wheelchair and hit Lisa with a pie to the face.
Icing smeared everywhere, but no harm no foul. Lisa’s covered in glass. It was wiped clean.
The bizarre stunt –get this– was a protest against climate change.
He shouted, “think of the earth.” And security took him away.
And I’m thinking “shouldn’t he be shoving the icing into the credit card slot of a gas pump?” That’s a climate protest.
But as security took the protester away, Mona Lisa just sat, sort of smiling, slightly amused by a day that was a little less boring.