The Mona Lisa is stolen from the Louvre

Vincenzo Peruggia, a former Louvre worker, took the Mona Lisa from the museum in 1911. It was recovered in Italy in 1913 and returned to Paris.

Context

Peruggia was an Italian handyman who had worked at the Louvre and helped fit glass protection over paintings. On Monday 21 August 1911, when the museum was closed, he is said to have hidden in a storeroom, put on a workman's smock and walked out with the painting under his clothing.

The theft was not noticed until the following day, and the French police investigation was slow. Early suspects included the poet Guillaume Apollinaire and, briefly, Pablo Picasso. Newspapers across the world covered the story, and the empty space on the wall drew visitors.

Peruggia kept the panel hidden for more than two years. In December 1913 he offered it to a Florence art dealer, Alfredo Geri, who alerted the authorities, and Peruggia was arrested on 11 December. He claimed he wanted to return it to Italy, though it was by Leonardo and had been in France since the 1500s.

The painting returned to the Louvre in January 1914 after being shown in Italy. Peruggia served a short sentence, and the affair helped make the Mona Lisa a global icon.

Peruggia's trial in Florence drew public sympathy in Italy because of his patriotic claim, which reduced the penalty he received.