Vincenzo Peruggia and the heist of the Mona Lisa: how did Leonardo da Vinci’s painting rise to fame?
The Mona Lisa. Today it’s the world’s most famous painting, but in the early 20th century, it wasn’t even the most famous painting in its gallery. On the 21st of August 1911, that was all about to change.
The heist
Vincenzo Peruggia was an Italian museum worker, who had installed protective glass cases on paintings at the Louvre. Can you tell where this is going?
On the 21st of August 1911, Vincent Peruggia and two associates spent the night in a cupboard at the Louvre to avoid being spotted, The next morning, they slipped the Mona Lisa off its gallery wall and out of the museum, making a clean getaway.
Meanwhile, back at the Louvre it took 28 hours before an artist happened to notice that the Mona Lisa wasn’t there. At the time there was a project at the Louvre to photograph many of its works. So the artist persuaded the guard to find out when the photographers were going to return the painting to the gallery. When the guard came back to say that the photographers didn’t have the Mona Lisa…he sparked a global media frenzy.
The Mona Lisa became an incredibly famous painting overnight and the police were drawing blanks. Theories were spinning – at one point Pablo Picasso himself became the prime suspect! Despite the story making headlines across the world, the location of the thief and Leonardo Da Vinci’s masterpiece remained unknown for two years.
Rumbled! The Mona Lisa recovered
In 1913, Vincent Peruggia slipped up. He had carefully kept the artwork hidden for two years. But, he couldn’t resist trying to sell it. He contacted an art dealer in Italy and traveled to Florence with the Mona Lisa. The art dealer was suspicious and called the police. A day later Peruggia was arrested.
During his trial it came to light that Peruggia believed that the Mona Lisa had been stolen from Florence by Napoleon. He argued that he was only doing his duty as an Italian in returning it to Leonardo Da Vinci’s true home. However, Peruggia was mistaken. Leonardo Da Vinci himself had taken the painting to France when he moved there, where he may have finished painting it.
Funnily enough Peruggia got his wish – for a short time at least. The Mona Lisa went on display at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence or a special exhibition following the theft, gaining much attention from the public.
Legacy
The 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa played a significant part in its fame. Although Leonardo Da Vinci completed the painting in 1507, it wasn’t acclaimed by the art world as a masterpiece of the Renaissance period until the mid 1800s. Peruggia’s remarkable stunt pushed the painting into the minds of the public, and today it remains the most recognisable work of art in the world.
Peruggia was sentenced to 8 months in prison. Very shortly after his trial, the story faded into the background, being overshadowed by the outbreak of WWI.
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