Author Topic: Mona Lisa Stolen from Louvre Museum in Paris (Read 363 times)

MikeLigalig.com · « **on:** August 22, 2025, 06:59:52 AM »

On this date in history, August 21, 1911, the world's most famous painting vanished from the Louvre Museum in Paris.

The Mona Lisa was gone. The space where it once hung was empty, leaving authorities and the public baffled. The theft created a media sensation across the globe.

Police launched a massive investigation, but they had few leads. At one point, they even brought in the famous artist Pablo Picasso for questioning as a suspect, though he was quickly cleared.

The culprit was Vincenzo Peruggia, an Italian handyman who had previously worked at the Louvre. He had simply hidden in a broom closet overnight, waited for the museum to empty, and walked out with the painting tucked under his coat the next morning. 🖼️

For two full years, the Mona Lisa was missing. Peruggia kept it hidden in a trunk in his small Paris apartment, just a short distance from the museum itself.

His motive wasn't money, but misguided patriotism. He believed the painting had been stolen from Italy by Napoleon and that he was returning it to its rightful home. This was incorrect, as Leonardo da Vinci had personally brought the painting to France centuries earlier.

Peruggia was finally caught in 1913 when he traveled to Florence, Italy, and attempted to sell the painting to an art dealer. The dealer immediately recognized it and alerted the authorities. 🤔

After its recovery, the Mona Lisa toured Italy to massive crowds before being returned to France in 1914. The publicity from the theft, ironically, is what cemented its status as the most recognizable and celebrated work of art in history.

Sources: Britannica, Historical Archives

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MikeLigalig.com

Author Topic: Mona Lisa Stolen from Louvre Museum in Paris (Read 363 times)

MikeLigalig.com

Mona Lisa Stolen from Louvre Museum in Paris