in
Art, Culture & Design
—
The Heist That Made Her Famous: How Three Handymen Turned the Mona Lisa into a Masterpiece
Before 1911, the Mona Lisa was just another Renaissance painting. It took a simple heist by a museum handyman, a 26-hour delay in noticing its absence, and a global media frenzy to transform Leonardo's portrait into the most famous work of art in the world.
Today, the Mona Lisa is more than a painting; she is a global icon, protected by bulletproof glass and admired by millions annually at the Louvre. Her enigmatic smile is one of the most recognized images on Earth. But what if her fame isn't just due to Leonardo da Vinci’s genius? What if it's the result of a brazen, almost comically simple, crime?
Prior to August 1911, the Mona Lisa was a well-respected piece within art circles, but she was far from a household name. The Louvre was full of masterpieces, and Leonardo’s portrait was not considered the museum's main attraction. That all changed when an Italian handyman named Vincenzo Peruggia decided she belonged back in her native Italy.
The Almost-Perfect Crime
On Monday, August 21, 1911, Peruggia, who had previously worked at the museum installing protective glass, hid overnight in a small storeroom with two accomplices. The next morning, while the museum was closed, they simply lifted the 170-pound painting (including its heavy frame and glass) off the wall, took it to a nearby staircase, removed the portrait from its encumbrance, and walked out the door. The heist was so straightforward that nobody noticed a thing. In fact, her absence wasn't confirmed for over 26 hours. When an artist arrived on Tuesday to sketch her, he found an empty space. Museum staff simply assumed the painting had been taken to the photography department—a common occurrence. It wasn't until they checked with the photographers that the alarm was finally raised.
From Artwork to International Celebrity
The theft of the Mona Lisa became an international media sensation. Newspapers across the globe ran front-page stories about the missing portrait. Her image was reproduced and distributed on a scale never before seen, making her face recognizable to millions who had never set foot in an art gallery. The empty space on the Louvre's wall became a morbid tourist attraction, with crowds flocking to stare at the four lonely hooks that once held her.
"All of a sudden, it was on the front page of papers all around the world. And it became a celebrity in its own right... It was this great caper." - Author Noah Charney
The French police were baffled, launching a wide-ranging investigation that even briefly targeted poet Guillaume Apollinaire and his friend, a young artist named Pablo Picasso, as suspects. The mystery only deepened her allure. The Mona Lisa wasn't just a painting anymore; she was the subject of the world's greatest art heist.
The Recovery and a Legend Cemented
For two years, the world's most wanted painting was hidden in a trunk in Peruggia's small Paris apartment. His motive was a misguided sense of patriotism; he believed the painting had been stolen from Italy by Napoleon (it had actually been legally acquired by the French King Francis I directly from Leonardo). In 1913, Peruggia traveled to Florence, Italy, and attempted to sell the painting to an art dealer, who promptly alerted the authorities. Peruggia was arrested, and the Mona Lisa was recovered. Because of his patriotic reasoning, he was hailed as a hero by many Italians and received a lenient sentence. Before being returned to Paris, the painting went on a celebrated tour through Italy. When she finally returned to the Louvre, she was no longer just another Renaissance portrait. She was a global superstar, a symbol of mystery and intrigue, her fame forever cemented not just by her creator's brush, but by her thief's audacity.