«Mona Lisa»

The incident that took place at the end of May in France is worthy of a film adaptation. Before attacking the Gioconda, the young man played a mini-performance at the Louvre. He entered the museum in a black wig, pretending not to walk. The bully revealed himself in the presence of tourists: he abruptly got up from his wheelchair and rushed to the picture with a cake in his hands and shouting «Think of the planet!». Fortunately, the canvas itself was not damaged, as it is exhibited under glass. However, this incident caused a wide resonance in society, which, apparently, was the goal of the attacker, an ardent eco-activist.

«Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan November 16, 1581»

Like the Mona Lisa, the famous painting by Ilya Repin, depicting the tragic episode - the murder of Tsarevich Ivan by his father, was attacked several times. The last assassination attempt took place in 2018. One drunken religious fanatic found the picture offensive. In anger, he managed to cause such serious damage to the frame and canvas that the painting was restored for 4 whole years. The restored painting was exhibited at the Tretyakov Gallery only last month.

«Danaë»

The outstanding Dutch artist Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn created a painting based on the ancient Greek myth of the mother of Perseus in 1636. More than 300 years later, the canvas was badly damaged as a result of an attack by the Lithuanian Bronius Maigis. Arriving on a tour of the Leningrad Hermitage, he committed an act of vandalism: he chose the most expensive painting, doused it with sulfuric acid and hit the canvas twice with a knife. Later, the offender admitted that in this way he protested against the fact that Lithuania was part of the USSR. After his assassination attempt, Danae was restored for 12 years.

«Guernica»

The well-known painting by Pablo Picasso has become one of the most famous anti-war symbols. Despite its peaceful message, the painting was also attacked by a vandal. In 1974, the young artist Tony Shafrazi, who is now a world-famous gallery owner, wrote «Kill lies all» in red paint on Guernica. In this way, he expressed his protest against the release on bail of the American officer William Calley. He was accused of massacres of civilians during the Vietnam War. Fortunately, the painting was not damaged because it was varnished.

Paintings by Albrecht Dürer

The German Hans-Joachim Bohlmann is considered one of the most notorious criminals in the art world, since he has damaged more than 50 world masterpieces since the 1970s. Among the works in which he « had a hand » were paintings by the greatest master of the Western European Renaissance, Albrecht Durer. Hans-Joachim Bohlmann doused with sulfuric acid such canvases as «Lamentation of Christ», «Seven Sorrows» and «Paumgartner Altarpiece» (pictured). It took a total of 10 years to restore these paintings. The entire damage that the serial vandal caused to world art is estimated at €150 million.

Paintings by Vasily Vereshchagin

Two more victims of acid complete the list of incidents, only this time the tragedy turned out to be irreparable, since the canvases affected by this atrocity were not «reanimated». Two paintings by the Russian artist Vasily Vereshchagin «The Resurrection of Christ» and «The Holy Family» (pictured) were attacked in 1885 by a religious fanatic. He considered that the Gospel stories, drawn not according to traditional canons, offend the feelings of believers. It must be admitted that the painter's work had many opponents. Both the Orthodox and Catholic churches recognized his work as blasphemous.