What did the Mona Lisa attacker shout in 2022?

The Mona Lisa attacker shouted, “Think of the Earth,” in 2022.

On 29 May 2022, a man disguised as an elderly woman and using a wheelchair approached the Mona Lisa at the Louvre. He tried to damage the protective glass and then smeared cake or pastry over it. As security guards escorted him away, he urged people to think about the Earth and said that people were destroying it.

The environmental message explained the unusual stunt. The glass case absorbed the attack, leaving Leonardo’s painting unharmed while museum staff cleaned the cream from the enclosure. The man was arrested and placed in psychiatric care, and the Louvre filed a complaint.

The wording is sometimes reported as “Think of the planet,” because accounts translated or paraphrased his French remarks differently. However, “Think of the Earth” is the canonical wording used in the quiz’s source and matches the widely circulated reports.

The event became another chapter in the Mona Lisa’s long history of attacks, following the 1911 theft, a 1956 rock attack, and the 2009 teacup incident.