The priceless Mona Lisa never ceases to inspire fascination and mystery, as evidenced by the recent sale of one of its copies for the princely sum of €273,000 in 2021. Now ultra-monitored and secured, the Renaissance painting attracts millions of visitors from the four corners of the globe. But while the masterpiece is emblematic for the beauty of its brushwork, it is also renowned for its spectacular history. Although we are fortunate enough to still be able to catch a glimpse of Mona Lisa in the Louvre, the painting almost disappeared from the radar forever! August 22 had all the makings of an ordinary day, yet the very next day the headlines were all over the papers: “The Mona Lisa has been stolen!”
Mona Lisa is gone
We owe the discovery of the theft to Louis Béroud, a regular painter at the museum, who had come that day to make a copy of the painting then on display in the Salon carré. We can only imagine the artist’s astonishment when he came face to face with a large void in the Mona Lisa’s usual place. The museum was then turned upside down, the staff questioned and the archives combed, to no avail. All that was found was the frame and glass of the masterpiece. Leonardo da Vinci’s painting had indeed been stolen!
Apollinaire and Picasso in on it?
The news spread immediately, and the whole of Paris was buzzing with talk of the theft of the Mona Lisa. 60 detectives were put on the case, but nothing could be done, and it was impossible to catch the thief. Several far-fetched leads were put forward, and then Picasso was accused and Guillaume Apollinaire was locked up as an accomplice to receiving stolen goods! The case settled down, and rewards were promised to anyone who could return Mona Lisa to the Louvre. Two years pass, and we come to terms with the fact that France has lost its priceless treasure.
The Mona Lisa has been found!
It was against this backdrop of resignation that a major development changed everything. In 1913, a Florentine antique dealer alerted the authorities. He had been offered the painting by the genius Da Vinci! The thief was immediately identified. It was Vincenzo Perrugia, a former glazier at the Louvre! A regular visitor, he had taken advantage of the Louvre’s closure two years earlier to slip the Mona Lisa under his smock, before quietly fleeing and hiding the work in his Paris apartment. While the portrait was thought to have flown to another continent, it was actually very close to its exhibition location!
As for Peruggia, he was imprisoned in Italy for a short time, and even welcomed as a hero by some. Although the official motive was patriotism, no one will ever know who really ordered this mad operation.
Yet another secret that the Mona Lisa will always keep behind her mysterious smile…