December 12: On This Day in World History … briefly
Louvre employee Vincenzo Peruggia stole the Mona Lisa by entering the building during regular hours, hiding in a broom closet and walking out with it hidden under his coat after the museum had closed. Peruggia was an Italian patriot who believed Leonardo's painting should have been returned for display in an Italian museum.
1913: Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Mona Lisa’ resurfaces
On 21 August 1911, Leonardo da Vinci’s famous ‘Mona Lisa’ painting was stolen from the Louvre.
The theft was not discovered until the next day, when painter Louis Béroud walked into the museum and went to the Salon Carré where the Mona Lisa had been on display for five years, only to find four iron pegs on the wall. He contacted the head of the guards, who thought the painting was being photographed for promotional purposes.
A few hours later, Béroud checked back with the Section Chief of the Louvre who confirmed that the Mona Lisa was not with photographers. The Louvre was closed for an entire week during the investigation.
On December 12, 1913, the painting is recovered after police were tipped off by a Florentine art dealer who received a note from one of the thieves, an Italian house-painter named Vincenzo Peruggia. He said he stole the painting because he was incensed by French chauvinism.
Most notable historic snippets or facts extracted from the book ‘On This Day’ first published in 1992 by Octopus Publishing Group Ltd, London, as well as additional supplementary information extracted from Wikipedia.
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