Like a snowflake or even a human life, a beautiful piece of art is unique unto itself and should be treated with the utmost caution and respect. So, when we see one of these symbols of the greatness of human imagination slashed, burned, demolished, or crumbled to the ground, it makes our eyes well up with tears a little bit. We're not crying! We just have allergies! So when these masterpieces of artwork, sculpture, and engineering are destroyed in film, we most certainly are going to notice them and make a comprehensive list of the most unforgettable desecrations.

Related: 'Glass Onion': Rian Johnson on How They Pulled Off the Mona Lisa Stunt

"The Mona Lisa" in 'Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery' (2022)

The Mona Lisa on Fire in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Image Via Netflix

In Glass Onion, the second installment of the Knives Out franchise, Miles Bron's (Edward Norton) pride and joy goes up in flames after his ex-business partner's identical twin, Helen Brand (Janelle Monáe), goes ballistic in the process of avenging her late sister's mistreatment and murder at the hands of Bron. Norton's character is an Elon Musk facsimile that has gone to great lengths to acquire the Da Vinci masterpiece only to see it go up in flames. If he wanted his legacy to be being mentioned in the same breath as "The Mona Lisa," he achieves it as the one in possession of it when it was destroyed.

The Statue of Liberty in 'Planet of the Apes' and 'Cloverfield' (2008)

Headless Statue of Liberty in Cloverfield
Image Via Paramount Pictures

Both the science fiction epic of 1968, Planet of the Apes, and the first Cloverfield film from J.J. Abrams in 2008 see the grand statue of Lady Liberty destroyed. Once by our simian overlords in the sci-fi classic, and again by the freakishly enormous alien invader of Manhattan in the found footage thriller. There seems to be a bit of a pattern developing here, but as long as it's every forty years, it makes it a little easier to digest on the big screen. Although the decapitation and subsequent launching of her head in Cloverfield was all kinds of surreal and visceral.

Thomas Gainsborough, Edgar Degas, and Rembrandt van Rijn pieces in 'Batman' (1989)

Jack Nicholson as the Joker in the museum scene in Batman (1989)
Image Via Warner Bros.

Jack Nicholson's unsettling iteration of Batman's arch enemy, the Joker, does a number on several pieces in Gotham's most prestigious museum, The Fluegelheim. In the 1989 film that started the Batman film franchise, he and his henchman destroy Thomas Bainsborough's Rococo period piece, "The Blue Boy," the portrait of Rembrandt, and Degas' legendary ballerina sculpture while the Joker does a nifty dance number set to Prince's "Partyman." It should be noted, however, that he did spare Francis Bacon's "Figure with Meat," but the damage was already done.

Pablo Picasso's "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" in Titanic (1997)

Kate WInslet as Rose holding a Picasso painting in Titanic
Image Via Paramount Pictures

Perhaps it's fitting that Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) was an amateur artist himself in James Cameron's sweeping epic Titanic. Fortunately, although Pablo Picasso's piece in the film, "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon," did exist during the time that the Titanic sank, it was not actually on board. Just a little artistic liberty, quite literally, is used by the set decorator for the purposes of depicting just how nice the passengers above deck had it before the captain forgot to steer clear of an iceberg. You can see the Picasso masterpiece get destroyed again on the big screen when Titanic comes back to theaters next month to celebrate its 25th anniversary.

"Whistler's Mother" in 'Bean' (1997)

Rowan Atkinson as Mr Bean looking at Whistlers Mother in Bean
Image Via PolyGram Filmed Entertainment

British funnyman Rowan Atkinson has never been better as the lovable oddball, Mr. Bean, when on a trip to the Grierson Art Gallery in England. While there, he accidentally sneezes on James McNeill Whistler's iconic, "Whistler's Mother" and then adds insult to injury by trying to remedy the situation himself with a handkerchief. The result is a destroyed masterpiece with a figure sitting in a chair without a head in the eponymous comedy of the late 90s, Bean. The scene is accentuated with a hilariously ominous Hitchcockian musical number that makes the gaffe feel like the shower scene from Psycho. Relax, Mr. Bean, you're only making things worse.

Diego Rivera's "Man at the Crossroads" in 'Frida' (2002)

Man at the Crossroads Painting
Image Via Diego Rivera

Diego Rivera's (portrayed in the film by Alfred Molina) "Man at the Crossroads" was at the center of a controversy as is depicted in the Salma Hayek-driven biopic, Frida. In 1934, the Rockefellers commission a mural from the great Spanish artist, so he and his companion, Frida Kahlo, travel to New York City for the project. But when Rivera refuses to remove the overarching communist theme behind his stunning mural at the request of the wealthy and influential patron, Nelson Rockefeller (Edward Norton), the piece ends up being destroyed. It's a sad commentary on how great art can sometimes take a backseat to partisan political matters.

Van Gogh's "Starry Night" and "Road with Cypress and Star" in 'I Am Legend' (2007)

Starry Night painting in I Am Legend
Image Via Warner Bros. Pictures

One of the most recognizable masterpieces of all time, Vincent van Gogh's "Starry Night" hangs over the fireplace in the home of the last man in New York City, Dr. Robert Neville (Will Smith) in I Am Legend. If you've seen the film, then you know that unfortunately, the prized painting, along with a second Van Gogh classic, "Road with Cypress and Star" are both later destroyed when Neville's house is overrun by Darkseekers, and he demolishes his own home killing dozens of the mutated scavengers before escaping through a basement door - well, depending on which ending you saw.

Raphael's "Portrait of a Young Man" in Monuments Men (2014)

Portrait of a Young Man Painting
Image Via Raphael

Towards the end of World War II, a civilian military force known as "the Monuments Men" comprised of roughly 350 untrained men set out to salvage as much of the priceless artwork that had been stolen by Hitler and other members of the German Third Reich. George Clooney and John Goodman star as two of the monument men who retrieve an enormous amount of priceless pieces by greats like Rembrandt, Picasso, Matisse, Van Gogh, and Vermeer among others. Sadly, they could never locate Raphael's "Portrait of a Young Man" and it is thought to have been either destroyed or lost.

Golden Gate Bridge in San Andreas (2015)

The Golden Gate Bridge about to be hit by a tidal wave in San Andreas
Image Via Warner Bros.

So, how in the world did action titan, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson make his way onto a list of movies about fine art, you ask? Because in his blockbuster disaster film, San Andreas, the deadly earthquake that sends the enormous fault line off kilter also causes tidal waves and leads to the destruction of one of the most iconic structures in the United States, The Golden Gate Bridge. It's true, even The Rock is helpless to stop the utter devastation caused by the shifting tectonic plates beneath the earth's surface.

Big Ben and The Eiffel Tower in Mars Attacks! (1996)

Eiffel Tower destroyed in Mars Attacks!
Image Via Warner Bros.

At first, it seems like the big-headed Martian invaders in Mars Attacks! have come in peace. But you knew the invasion by the dastardly E.T.s in Master of Goth, Tim Burton's sci-fi thriller would eventually turn out to be evil. The star-studded ensemble that includes Jack Nicholson, Michael J. Fox, and Glenn Close can only look on and fight to survive as the creepy visitors' malevolent turns include the demolition of both Big Ben in London and the majestic Eiffel Tower in France as they are hellbent on taking control of the planet.