it is one of the most viewed paintings in the world, contemplated by crowds of tourists under the watchful eye of numerous guards.
but that did not stop a russian visitor to the louvre museum in paris, frustrated at not having been granted french nationality, from hurling a ceramic mug at the mona lisa in an attack on leonardo da vinci's masterpiece earlier this month.
the unnamed woman brought an english-made mug in to the museum on the first sunday of the month, when admission was free.
she hurled it at the painting and it shattered against the protective bulletproof glass, leaving the masterpiece undamaged.
"the visitor was immediately apprehended by museum guards and she gave herself up willingly," david madec, a louvre spokesman, told the guardian.
"staff cleared up the broken pieces of the mug, but there was no more than a moment's disruption and the room wasn't closed. there was no damage to the painting."
the woman, described as "visibly upset", later told police she was frustrated that she had not been granted french citizenship. she underwent psychiatric testing and was released.
the louvre filed a legal complaint as a matter of course because police were called to intervene.
它是世界上被欣赏次数最多的画作之一，蜂拥而至的游客在众多保安的戒备的目光下凝神欣赏。
但这并不能阻止一位俄罗斯的游客向达芬奇的杰作发起攻击，由于未能获得法国国籍太过沮丧，她向蒙娜丽莎投去了一个瓷质马克杯。
这名未透露姓名的女子在本月第一个周日博物馆免费开放时带去了一个英国制造的马克杯。
她将它向画作投去，杯子撞到保护画作的防弹玻璃上摔得粉碎，画作却安然无恙。
“这名游客立刻被博物馆保安逮捕，她自己也很快主动自首。” 卢浮宫的一名发言人david madec向卫报透露，“职员对碎片进行了清扫，攻击仅仅造成了片刻的骚乱，未导致博物馆关闭，也未对画作造成损伤。”
这名看起来十分沮丧的妇女事后告诉警察，她对于未能获得法国国籍非常失望。她接受了精神病测试，并且已被释放。
由于警方的介入，卢浮宫对此事进行了法律申诉。