In 1974, what did a woman spray on the Mona Lisa?

In 1974, a woman sprayed red paint on the Mona Lisa while it was being exhibited in Tokyo.

The incident occurred on 21 April 1974 at Japan’s Tokyo National Museum, during a rare international tour of Leonardo da Vinci’s painting. The woman was protesting the museum’s failure to provide adequate access for disabled visitors. The paint struck the protective glass rather than the artwork itself, so the Mona Lisa was not damaged.

This episode is often confused with attacks that directly affected the painting. In 1956, acid damaged its lower section, and later that year a visitor threw a stone at it. Those incidents helped lead to stronger protective measures, including bullet-resistant glass.

The Tokyo episode also predates several better-known attacks: a Russian visitor threw a teacup at the glass in 2009, and a climate protester smeared cake on the enclosure in 2022. In each case, the barrier protected Leonardo’s original surface.