These masterpieces were destroyed

1. Mona Lisa | Leonardo da Vinci

A Russian woman decided to visit the Louvre in 2009 and threw an empty teacup against the Mona Lisa. Fortunately, the glass protected the Mona Lisa from damage. The woman's motivation was that she had been denied French citizenship. Critics believed that the painting should be better protected from such attacks and it should be moved to its own gallery, separated from other works. Measures were eventually taken by deploying queues to control the crowds around the painting. The glass also received an upgrade in 2019.

2. Image | Antonio Canova 

At Italy's Gipsoteca Museum in 2020, things went wrong and two toes broke off a statue. An Austrian visitor sat down on a statue by artist Antonio Canova while taking a selfie. It is an 1804 plaster model depicting Paolina Bonaparte. She is said to have been a sister of Napoleon.

"Canova":
Perché un turista austriaco ha danneggiato la "Paolina Borghese", custodita nel museo di Possagno (Treviso): per farsi un selfie si è seduto sulla statua spezzandole le dita del piede pic.twitter.com/k0r8nXpOz2

- Perché è in tendenza (@perchetendenza) August 1, 2020

3. Gazing Ball | Jeff Koons 

In 2018, another artwork by Jeff Koons fell. His Gazing Ball was severely damaged on its final day at the Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam. The artwork was part of a series in which Koons had old masterpieces copied and installed a glass ball against them. A visitor tried to touch the prominent glass ball attached to the artwork, whereupon it snapped... The exact damage is not known, but will involve several million.

4. Vase | Jaime Hayon

A man who visited the Groninger Museum in 2014 will not soon forget his visit either. The man was in the museum taking photos when he walked backwards and knocked over the vase. The vase, which was 1 meter high and weighed 80 pounds, shattered on the marble floor. How much the mishap cost is not known. Fortunately, the man's insurance covered the cost. This allowed the artist to make a new one. Shards bring good luck shall we say....

@groningermuseum; shards bring good luck but too bad it is VERY! Enjoyed Unicef exhibition . pic.twitter.com/de6EXZB79p

- Geertje Waanders (@GeertjeWaanders) January 26, 2014

5. The Sower | Van Gogh

Last year, four climate activists threw soup against a Van Gogh in Rome. The work, The Sower, by the Dutch artist hung in the Palazzo Bonapart museum. Fortunately, the painting itself was not damaged because it hung behind glass. After a thorough cleaning, it was back on view for visitors to the museum. Unfortunately, the frame did suffer damage.