The Daring Theft That Made Mona Lisa Famous
The Mona Lisa portrait painting by Leonardo da Vinci is one of the most famous paintings in the world but it wasn’t always like that, in fact, it took someone stealing it for it to become famous in the first place.
The Plan to Steal the Mona Lisa
On the morning of August 21st, 1911 the Mona Lisa was hanging behind a glass case in Paris’s Louvre Museum when a handyman walked in, removed the glass, and took the painting off the wall. Since the museum hadn’t opened yet, no one was there to question the man as he took off his white smock, wrapped the painting, tucked it under his arm, and made his way toward the door.
Finding the door locked he unscrewed the doorknob but still couldn’t get it open. The plan was looking like a bust but another employee, a plumber, helpfully used some pliers to open the door unknowingly assisting in the theft.
The handyman thanked the plumber and walked out… and that was it, that was the master plan to steal the Mona Lisa.
It worked.
“We could just grab it and walk out?”
“You brilliant son of a bitch.”
The Discovery of the Theft
Incredibly no one noticed the painting was gone for over a day and it was by complete accident that they even noticed. An artist happened to be at the museum creating a painting of the gallery but couldn’t complete it with a big empty spot on the wall. He asked a guard about the missing painting and was informed some of the paintings had been temporarily taken to the roof to be photographed.
After some more time passed, the artist inquired again and the guard agreed to check how much longer the photographer would need the painting. He returned shocked having discovered the photographer never had the Mona Lisa and it had been missing this entire time.
The following day it was front-page news.
The Search for the Mona Lisa
The Lourve shut down for a week allowing the police to investigate while outside many wondered who could have taken the painting. This is what launched the Mona Lisa into stardom.
Prior to its theft, the painting wasn’t widely known, sure it was famous in certain art world circles but ask anyone if they’d seen Mona Lisa at the time, and most people would say “who?”. But now it had been stolen and everyone knew about it.
A week later the Lourve opened back up to lines around the block wanting to see the empty spot where the painting once hung.
“Yes that is an empty space.”
There were several suspects and rumors going around as to who could've stolen the painting or commissioned the theft. Police arrested French author, Guillaume Apollinaire, believing he had assisted in the theft since one of his secretaries had stolen several statues a few years prior. On top of that Guillaume had links to artist and thief Gery Pieret.
Apollinaire was innocent but police had another suspect, his friend Pablo Picasso. Police arrested Picasso but eventually, both men were cleared of any involvement.
“It’s 1911, Mona Lisa is too curvy for me.” - Picasso, probably
Meanwhile, rumors swirled in the public as to who could've been behind the theft. Some believed the German Kaiser (emperor) was behind the theft since tensions between France and Germany were heating up. Others thought the American J.P. Morgan was behind it since there were fears rich Americans were trying to buy up all the famous paintings for themselves.
Eventually, the trail went cold and it would be two whole years before anyone knew what actually happened.
Finding the Mona Lisa
In December of 1913 a man, claiming to have the Mona Lisa, contacted Mario Fratelli, owner of an art gallery in Florence, Italy. The man was Vincenzo Peruggia, a former museum worker at the Louvre, and he was the handyman who stole it in the first place.
There are a couple of theories as to why Vincenzo stole the painting; one, he believed the painting belonged to Italy as Leonardo da Vinci was Italian and, having heard stories of Napolean stealing paintings in the past, believed the Mona Lisa was stolen from Italy.
He thought bringing it back to Italy would make him a national hero. But Vincenzo didn’t know the painting was actually sold to King Francis I of France in 1518 by Leonardo’s assistant after his death.
Another theory says Vincenzo was just after money since he tried to sell it to Mario Fratelli and some letters he sent to his father after the theft talks about making a fortune.
“I swear I’m not doing it for the money.”
After the painting was verified by museum director Giovanni Poggi, both he and Mario Fratelli convinced Vincenzo to leave the painting with them for safekeeping while they figure out the logistics of his payment. Vincenzo, falling for the oldest trick in the book, agreed and half an hour later he was arrested.
The Mona Lisa’s return was front page news again and returned to the Louvre where it has become one of the most famous paintings in the world. As for Vincenzo, the Italian courts somewhat believed his story of “stealing it for Italy and not the money” and sentenced him to a year in jail.
He only served 6 months.
Quick Facts
There’s some debate as to whether Vincenzo entered the museum on August 21st or if he entered on August 20th and hid in a closet till the morning. When questioned, Vincenzo stated he walked in on the 21st but some questioned why the door would have been locked on his way out.
Today the Mona Lisa is behind bulletproof glass because of various attempts to damage it throughout the decades including one woman who tried to throw red paint on it and another man who slashed it.
The actual Mona Lisa portrait is painted on three slabs of wood, not canvas. It has also darkened throughout the years and most images online (including the one on this page) have been digitally lightened to reflect its original display.
