Introduction
“The Mona Lisa was stolen? What?!”
I know this sounds a bit new… not literally though. If you thought something along these lines, then this article is definitely for you. On the 21st of August 1911, Vincenzo Peruggia entered the Louvre museum (where the Mona Lisa was displayed) at 7 AM and, with the sneakiness of a child pocketing candy, stole it. The painting is worth 100 million dollars but due to inflation, at the time, it was worth 830 million dollars.
The Robbery
This issue, our time period is the 1910’s. Like said before, on August 20th, Vincenzo Peruggia, a man working at the Louvre, hid in the museum. It was a Sunday, so Peruggia knew that the museum would close the following day although Peruggia claimed, during his interrogations in Florence, Italy, that he had entered the museum on August 21st around 7 AM or so. Either way, he entered through the employees’ door, dressed in a white smock similar to the one employees wore so that no one could distinguish it from any of the other employees’ uniforms.
The Salon Carré, where the Mona Lisa is hung, was empty, and Peruggia took advantage of that. He took the painting to a nearby service staircase, removing the protective case and the frame, leaving the painting in its bare base. Some say that Vincenzo Peruggia hid the painting under his smock, but he was only 5’3 (160.02cm) at the time, so it wouldn’t have fit. A more popular theory is that he took his smock off and wrapped the painting with it before he left using the same door he entered from.
After Peruggia had hid the painting in his apartment for two years, he finally went back to Italy with it, but this time he hid it in his apartment in Florence. When he contacted Alfredo Gari, the owner of an art gallery in Florence, he was caught and arrested in his hotel. The painting was brought back to the Louvre in France.
On the other end of the story, The Mona Lisa was the newest hot topic of the 1910s. News of the theft hit the headlines and everyone in France was talking about it… everyone. The painting and its origins gained huge popularity throughout the years while the story of its theft became one with the background, the painting itself stealing the spotlight of every conversation.
The Motivation
Theory 1: “Patriotism”
Peruggia claimed he did it so he could bring the painting back to where it “belonged”- in Florence, Italy. He said that Napoleon had stolen it, although Leonardo da Vinci, the original painter, took the painting as a gift for Francis l, the King of France when Da Vinci moved there in the 16th century, 250 years before Napoleon was born.
It doesn’t add up though… If “patriotism” was his real motive to steal the painting, then he would have donated the painting to a museum in Italy, where the Mona Lisa “belonged”, instead of trying to profit from selling the depiction of the wife of Francesco del Giocondo.
That’s a bit…shady
Theory 2: “A Criminal Conspiracy”
Our second theory is that the theft of the Mona Lisa was encouraged by a man called Eduardo de Valfierno. He had instructed Yves Chaudron to make copies of the painting so they could sell them, claiming the copies as the missing original. It’s a clever plan, as the copies would be more expensive due to the fact that they were the so-called “missing original”.
Again, a bit shady
Conclusion
What a nice case- short and simple, not nearly as long and complicated as the Isabella Stewart Gardner Art Heist that we covered last time! In conclusion, we are often blinded by the fame and glory of the Mona Lisa, so most of us don’t even know the story behind its fame. Right now, the Mona Lisa is probably the most famous painting. Next issue, we’ll be unfolding the story of yet another case, maybe art-related or maybe not. Until then, thank you for reading!
