In August 1911, a handyman walked out of the Louvre with the Mona Lisa under his smock. Nobody noticed for more than a day. This is the story of how one small painting vanished, and how its disappearance turned a respected artwork into the most famous picture on earth. Before the theft, the Mona Lisa was admired mostly by art historians and critics. It was one painting among many on a crowded wall. The thief was Vincenzo Peruggia, a 29-year-old glazier who had helped build the glass case that protected it. He believed the painting had been stolen from his homeland, and he meant to take it back. Could one man in a work smock really carry off a masterpiece, and what would the world do when it found the wall empty?
The Mona Lisa Heist
In 1911 a handyman in a white smock took the Mona Lisa from the Louvre, and it stayed missing for 28 months.
Chapter 1
A Handyman and a Painting
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Vincenzo Peruggia steal the Mona Lisa?
Peruggia said his motive was patriotic. He believed Napoleon had stolen the painting from Italy. That was a mistake, because Leonardo da Vinci had brought it to France himself, and it was later purchased by King Francis I.
How did the thief get out of the Louvre with the painting?
Peruggia wore a white worker's smock and took the painting during a shift change. He stripped off the frame and glass on a service staircase and hid the panel under his smock. When the service door would not open, a passing plumber unlocked it for him.
How was the Mona Lisa recovered?
Peruggia wrote to an art dealer, Alfredo Geri, offering to return the painting for 500,000 lire. On December 11, 1913, Geri and Giovanni Poggi met him at the Hotel Tripoli in Florence and checked the panel against the museum's records. Police arrested Peruggia the same day.
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