When ‘Mona Lisa’ was found in a waiter’s room, Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting was stolen – Mona Lisa heist from Louvre Museum and how it recovered tedu1
On 12 December 1913, ‘Mona Lisa’ stolen from Florence was recovered. Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece Mona Lisa has been recovered from the hotel room of Italian waiter Vincenzo Perugia in Florence, two years after it was stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris. Perugia had previously worked at the Louvre and took part in the theft on the morning of August 21, 1911, with a group of accomplices dressed as Louvre guards.
Leonardo da Vinci, one of the great Italian Renaissance painters, completed The Mona Lisa, a portrait of the wife of wealthy Florentine citizen Francesco del Gioconda in 1504. This painting, also known as La Gioconda, depicts a female figure with a mysterious facial expression seated in front of a visionary landscape.
art theft of the century
The theft of Mona Lisa has been called the ‘art theft of the century’, but this theft itself was quite elementary. On the evening of Sunday 20 August 1911, a short, mustachioed man entered the Louvre Museum in Paris and entered the Salon Carré, where da Vinci’s painting was housed along with many other masterpieces.
The security of the museum was lax
Security at the museum was lax, so the man found it easy to hide inside a store room. He remained hidden there until the next morning when the Louvre was closed. At around 7:15 in the morning when there were less people on the roads. He came out wearing a white apron – the same outfit museum staff wear. After checking to see if the path was clear, the thief approached the Mona Lisa, plucked it from the wall, and carried it to a nearby service staircase, where he removed its wooden canvas from a protective glass frame.
This is how the thief stole the painting
The only obstacle to the thief’s plan came when he tried to go out into the courtyard by exiting the stairs. Finding the door closed, he placed Monalisa – now wrapped in a white sheet – on the floor and tried to open the door handle. He had only gone a little further when a plumber from the Louvre came and saw him on the stairs.
The guard mistook the museum for staff and opened the door for the thief.
However, instead of arresting him, the guard mistook him for a trapped co-worker and helped him open the door. The thief ran away after thanking him in a friendly manner. A few moments later, he walked out of the Louvre with one of the world’s most valuable paintings hidden under his apron. For a long time, the Louvre staff had no clue that the Mona Lisa had been stolen.
The museum could not find out about the theft for several days.
The museum’s paintings were often removed from the walls for cleaning or photography, so visitors also did not pay much attention to the empty space where portraits were usually placed. One day, the Monalisa was discovered stolen when a visiting artist asked a security guard to search for the painting.
The news of the disappearance created outrage among the people in France. The police investigation did not yield any promising clues. A high-profile suspect was Guillaume Apollinaire, an avant-garde poet who once talked about burning down the Louvre. Apollinaire was arrested in September 1911 after police linked him to the previous theft of two ancient statues. Which his secretary had picked up from the Louvre.
Pablo Picasso was also suspected in Monalisa theft case
During interrogation, Apollinaire implicated his close friend and famous painter Pablo Picasso. She said that Picasso had purchased the statues and used them as models in his paintings. Authorities questioned Apollinaire and Picasso in connection with the disappearance of the Mona Lisa, and both great figures were later released due to lack of evidence.
The market of speculation had become heated regarding theft.
As days turned into months, speculation over Monalisa’s whereabouts intensified. The New York Times wrote that “Many citizens became amateur Sherlock Holmes. Many theories were put forth about the theft. Some argued that American banking giant JPMorgan had carried out the theft to expand his private art collection. While some believed that the Germans had conspired to defame the French people.
The thief tried to sell the painting
Here, Perugia, who stole the painting, finally tried to sell it in December 1913. Using the alias ‘Leonard’, he sent a letter to a Florentine art dealer named Alfredo Geri and informed him that he had stolen the Mona Lisa and wanted to bring it back to Italy. After discussions with Giovanni Poggi, director of the Uffizi Gallery, Geri invited Perugia to Florence and agreed to see the painting.
This is how the thief was caught
A few days later, the three men gathered in a hotel room in Perugia, where they took out a mysterious object wrapped in red silk. The Florentines immediately arranged for the painting to be taken to the Uffizi. They also agreed to Perugia’s 500,000-lire sale price, but they had no intention of actually purchasing the Mona Lisa. Instead, after authenticating the picture, he reported the thief to the authorities.
The painting is kept safe in bulletproof glass
After the recovery of the Mona Lisa, Perugia was convicted of robbery in Italy and spent only 14 months in prison. The Mona Lisa was eventually returned to the Louvre, where it remains today behind bulletproof glass. It is arguably the most famous painting in the world and is visited by millions of visitors every year.
major events
December 12, 1998 – The Judiciary Committee of the US House approved the impeachment against President Bill Clinton.
December 12, 1822 – Mexico was officially recognized as an independent nation by the United States.
12 December 1936 – Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek declared war against Japan.
12 December 1911 – British Emperor George V and his wife Mary came to India. During this time, Delhi Durbar was held. In this court, George V was crowned as Emperor of India and announced that henceforth the capital of India would be Delhi instead of Calcutta.
Tamil and Hindi film actor Rajinikanth was born on 12 December 1950.
