When “Mona Lisa” was stolen in 1911, the police arrested and questioned Pablo Picasso The disappearance of the Mona Lisa was noticed by one museum visitor the next day. Probably out on the roof, in daylight being photographed, Béroud thought, but in a few hours the guards determined it wasn’t. Though the public was restless and the investigators were searching, the Mona Lisa did not show up. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/mona-lisa-stolen-1779626. He tried to shift the blame to Pablo Picasso, who was also detained. When the story broke it caused a public outcry and catapulted the painting into the public eye. Leonardo then suggested they meet in his hotel room the next day. The sitter’s mysterious smile and her unproven identity have made the work a source of ongoing investigation and fascination. He said that he had a white smock worn by employees of the museum (possibly kept from the time he worked at the Louvre previously) and, when the crew of workers for the … The borders of France were sealed, and onlookers the world over were rapt and aghast. The section chief and other guards did a quick search of the museum—no Mona Lisa. Police theorized that he had hidden in the museum the night before and came out once the museum had closed for the day. The most famous theft of works of art in history, when the most famous painting in the world was stolen – Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, took place on August 21, 1911. This could have given access to a would-be thief to the museum. Weeks went by. When the Mona Lisa got stolen from the Louvre in 1911, a friend of Picasso’s, Guillaume Apollinaire who was a French poet, playwright, and art critic of Polish descent was arrested first and ratted out Picasso for possessing stolen antiquities. The right eye of Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa." Peruggi’s friend, on the other hand, copied the images, so Peruggia believed that in the event of the theft of the original, the price of the copies would rise. https://www.thoughtco.com/mona-lisa-stolen-1779626 (accessed February 20, 2021). But after checking with the photographer, it became clear that the Mona Lisa had been stolen. Upon his leaving, Geri contacted the police and the Uffizi. Louvre Museum: History and Most Important Masterpieces, Definition of Sfumato: Art History Glossary, Top 12 Greatest Visual Artists of All Time, Biography of Leonardo da Vinci, Inventor and Artist of the Renaissance, Is Mary Magdalene in Da Vinci's 'The Last Supper?'. After his arrest, he was sentenced to 6 months in prison, but many Italians celebrated him for his patriotism. The hue and cry over the loss made the painting far more famous than before, and it was now far too dangerous to try to sell too quickly. The Mona Lisa just might be the most recognizable face on Earth. Mona Lisa is moving: What does it take to keep her safe? As to why da Vinci never delivered it, it has been speculated that he received a much more lucrative commission shortly thereafter and thus abandoned the painting at the time. He was arrested only when he was trying to give a painting to the famous Uffizi Gallery in Florence and get the award in return. Jennifer Rosenberg is a historian and writer who specializes in 20th-century history. Stolen. He found a thumbprint on the Mona Lisa's frame, but he was unable to match it with any in his files. It was a police theory that the former Louvreworker hid inside the museum on Sunday, 20 August, knowing the museum would be closed the following day. On Aug. 21, 1911, the then-little-known painting was stolen from the wall of the Louvre in Paris. The letter had a post office box in Paris as a return address and had been signed only as "Leonardo.". Security in the museum was lax, so the man found it easy to stow away inside a storage closet. On August 20th, 1911, three men snuck into a supply closet at the Louvre and stayed there until the museum closed, waiting for their moment to yank a … In addition, at the time, the Mona Lisa was not all that famous. Geri and the museum director noticed and recognized the Louvre seal on the back of the painting. The investigators brought in Alphonse Bertillon, a famous fingerprint expert. The Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre in 1911, and wasn't recovered for over two years; she is now housed behind bulletproof glass to protect her from vandals. Although the Louvre states that it was "doubtless pa… The scandal was called “the most colossal theft of modern times.” Newspapers worldwide covered the story. The famous poet Guillaume Apollinaire, who once said that the entire Louvre should be burned, was initially suspected of stealing the painting. Leonardo stated that he wanted a half million lire for the painting. But Perugia himself later stated that he gained access to the museum in a much less sinister way on the day of the actual theft. January 12, 2021 By Olivia Rutigliano ThoughtCo, Aug. 26, 2020, thoughtco.com/mona-lisa-stolen-1779626. Three more held in 'Mona Lisa' theft; French Police Seize Two Men and a Woman on Perugia's Information, Stolen: How the Mona Lisa Became the World’s Most Famous Painting, B.A., History, University of California at Davis. The following day, Geri and the Uffizi museum director Poggi appeared at Leonardo's hotel room. The Mona Lisa, the very face of high art, had been stolen. The painting was displayed at the Uffizi and throughout Italy before it was returned to France on Dec. 30, 1913. Beneath that Leonardo removed a false bottom—and there lay the Mona Lisa. The famous Mona Lisa was stolen (1911) The famous poet Guillaume Apollinaire was initially suspected of stealing the Mona Lisa, who once said that the entire Louvre should be burned. Until that point, the Mona Lisa was not a particularly well-known painting. "The Day the Mona Lisa Was Stolen." On the one hand, he was Italian and believed that the Mona Lisa should be exhibited in Italy because it was painted by Leonardo. Approximately 800 people had access to the Salon Carré on Monday morning. Richard Cavendish | Published in History Today Volume 61 Issue 8 August 2011 On 21st August 1911, the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Salon Carré in the Louvre. A Lineup of the Suspects in the Mona Lisa Art Heist. On September 7, 1911, 17 days after the theft, the French arrested the French poet and playwright Guillaume Apollinaire. Peruggia’s act, and the whirl of press attention that ensued, had transformed the Mona Lisa into one of the most recognisable and famous artworks in the world. On August 21, 1911, the Mona Lisa was stolen from Paris's Louvre Museum. The prefect of the police had several theories, quoted in a 1912 story in The New York Times: Other theories blamed a Louvre worker, who stole the painting in order to reveal how bad the Louvre was protecting these treasures. It was such an inconceivable crime, that the Mona Lisa wasn't even noticed missing until the following day. Wandering throughout the museum were museum officials, guards, workmen, cleaners, and photographers. Later reports would show that the painting was stolen for 26 hours before anyone noticed it.Â. The Day the Mona Lisa Was Stolen. Museum director Théophile Homolle retorted "you might as well pretend that one could steal the towers of the cathedral of Notre Dame.". (2020, August 26). The Lancelotti brothers left by a staircase, dumping the frame and glass in the staircase, and, still known by many of the guards, Peruggia grabbed the Mona Lisa—painted on a white polar panel measuring 38x21 inches—and simply walked out of the museum's front door with the Mona Lisa under his painters smock. Louis Béroud entered the Louvre museum and proceeded as usual to the section with the Mona Lisa, only to discover the portrait was gone. But when did all this take place? Peruggia received a one year sentence, which was later reduced to seven months and he went home to Italy: there was a war in the works and a resolved art theft was no longer newsworthy. They then continued the search. Interviews with these people brought out very little. Security was weak; reports are that there were only about 150 guards, and incidents of art stolen or damaged inside the museum had happened a few years earlier. The theft was discovered the following day when a painter wandered into the Louvre to admire the Mona Lisa, and instead discovered four metal pegs! The first puzzle is how he got into the museum on that August day to gain access to the painting. Sixty police agents were put on the case. But on Mondays, the Louvre was closed for cleaning. Rosenberg, Jennifer. When it was reopened, a line of people had come to solemnly stare at the empty space on the wall, where the Mona Lisa had once hung. He re… As news of the theft broke, an international dragnet quickly stretched from Europe across the Atlantic. Five days later, he was released. Leonardo Vincenzo, whose real name was Vincenzo Peruggia, was arrested. Peruggia hadn't had a plan to dispose of the painting; his only goal, so he said, was to return it to Italy: but he may well have done it for the money. On August 21, 1911, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre by Vincenzo Peruggia, an Italian laborer living in Paris.. Rosenberg, Jennifer. The art whodunit that made the entire 20th century gasp! A few hours later, Béroud checked back with the section head. Vinzenzo Peruggia hid the Mona Lisa for about two years in his Paris apartment. An anonymous visitor left a bouquet of flowers. • PHOTOS: Stolen Masterpieces. He, in turn, called the Paris police. Some Germans thought it was a ploy by the French to distract from international concerns. Months went by. Thus, Leonardo made the stipulation that the Mona Lisa was to be hung at the Uffizi and never given back to France. The last document the Louvre shared with scholars listed the safe return of the Mona Lisa to Paris on 16 June 1945. On December 10, 1913, an Italian man with a mustache appeared at Geri's sales office in Florence. After waiting for other customers to leave, the stranger told Geri that he was Leonardo Vincenzo and that he had the Mona Lisa back in his hotel room. Peruggia, born in Italy, had worked in Paris at the Louvre in 1908. The Mona Lisa was recovered and returned to the Louvre. It was such an inconceivable crime, that the Mona Lisa wasn't even noticed missing until the following day. In the end, both were acquitted. One worker remembered having seen the painting around 7 o'clock on Monday morning (a day before it was discovered missing) but noticed it gone when he walked by the Salon Carré an hour later. Who would steal such a famous painting? Besides believing that the thief had to have at least some internal knowledge of the museum, there really wasn't much evidence. Mona Lisa, oil painting on a poplar wood panel by Leonardo da Vinci, probably the world’s most famous painting. Unfortunately, there wasn't much evidence to go on. Investigators and others speculated that the thief grabbed the painting off the wall, entered the stairwell, removed the painting from its frame, then somehow left the museum unnoticed. The paper published a photograph under the headline "A Thief Brings Us a Work Stolen from the Louvre." This was obviously the real Mona Lisa. He had assumed a museum official had moved it. Since museum director Homolle was on vacation, the curator of Egyptian antiquities was contacted. He had begun working on a portrait of Lisa del Giocondo, the model of the Mona Lisa, by October 1503. The theft of the painting would change that forever.Â. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The most famous theft of works of art in history, when the most famous painting in the world was stolen – Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, took place on August 21, 1911. Two years went by with no word about the real Mona Lisa. On August 21, 1911, Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, today one of the most famous paintings in the world, was stolen right off the wall of the Louvre. But, according to Peruggia's interrogation in Florence after his arrest, he entered the museum on Monday, 21 August around 7 am, through the door where the other Louvre workers were entering. There was a scaffold against one side of the museum that was there to aid the installation of an elevator. A meeting was set up between Peruggia, the art dealer, and the director of an art gallery in Florence. He asked the head of security where the picture was, and he thought he was taking a picture. In what has been dubbed “the greatest art theft of the 20th century,” an Italian thief by the name of Vincenzo Peruggia walked into the Louvre on August 21, 1911 and stole Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.He held the masterpiece for over two years, until he was arrested it while trying to sell it to an art dealer. The Louvre Museum is the largest in the world, covering an area of about 15 acres. ...how Mona Lisa was finally found On December 10th, 1913, a mustachioed young man arrived in Florence and visited the offices of Alfredo Geri, an antique dealer on the Via Borgognissanti. Source: (allthatsinteresting.com) The Recovery . On August 21, 1911, the famed Mona Lisa was stolen off the walls of the Louvre. He and two accomplices, the brothers Vincent and Michele Lancelotti, had entered the museum on Sunday and hid in a storeroom. In A Nutshell. The next day, while the museum was closed, the men dressed in workman's smocks came out of the storeroom, removed the protective glass and the frame. Béroud contacted the section head of the guards, who thought the painting must be at the photographers'. Then years went by. Rumors and theories about the identity and motive of the thief spread like wildfire. It was stolen from the Louvre in Paris by one of the museum’s employees, named Vincenzo Peruggia. In retrospect, that's not all that shocking. The Louvre was closed for an entire week to aid the investigation. Though Geri thought he was dealing with someone who had a copy rather than the real Mona Lisa, he contacted Commendatore Giovanni Poggi, museum director of Florence's Uffizi museum. The Mona Lisa is stolen from the Louvre The theft of the most famous painting in the world on 21 August 1911 created a media sensation. And a legend was born. It was then discovered the Mona Lisa was not with the photographers. It turned out that Vinzenzo Peruggia, who was an employee of the Louvre, stole the painting by entering the museum during normal business hours (when he was not on duty) and hiding in a broom closet. Some Frenchmen blamed the Germans, believing the theft a ploy to demoralize their country. On Tuesday, August 22, 1911, Béroud walked into the Louvre and went to the Salon Carré where the Mona Lisa had been on display for five years. Further research discovered that the usual guard in the Salon Carré was home (one of his children had the measles) and his replacement admitted leaving his post for a few minutes around 8 o'clock to smoke a cigarette. The Mona Lisa Stolen in 1911 | Photo Credit: The Vintage News. The theft of the Mona Lisa has been called the art heist of the century, but the caper itself was fairly rudimentary. He said he wore one of the white smocks that museum employees cust… In an excerpt … In December of 1913, about two and a half years after the Mona Lisa was stolen, Vincenzo Peruggia finally got up the nerve to send a letter to an art dealer in Florence, Italy. When the museum closed, he went outside carrying the Mona Lisa hidden under his coat. Museum director Homolle lost his job. The public and the press thought the glass was too reflective and detracted from the images. Just he and La Gioconda — the Mona Lisa to you and me, the Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece Peruggia stole from the Louvre, where he worked, in Paris on Aug. 21, 1911. With some quick, clear thinking, Geri agreed to the price but said the director of the Uffizi would want to see the painting before agreeing to hang it in the museum.
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