Almost everybody has seen the Mona Lisa, also known as La Gioconda, at least once.
Leonardo da Vinci's most famous painting is arguably one of the most recognizable artworks in history. The portrait is often considered an archetype of artistic mastery of the Italian Renaissance thanks to the mesmerizing details and the softness of Mona Lisa's traits.
The masterpiece was originally painted between 1503 and 1507 in Florence, Italy.
But it’s possible that Da Vinci continued refining the painting until over 10 years after his first sketch, declaring the work finally complete in 1517.
Its existence has intertwined the fates of Italy and France for centuries, and continues to do so: although it was painted in Italy, the artwork followed Da Vinci when the artist relocated to France.
In 1517, King Francis I, who was notoriously a patron of the arts and who had invited Da Vinci to the French court, bought the painting for his collection.
It is said that he paid 4,000 ducati d'oro (gold ducats) for it, roughly the equivalent of 4,000 grams, or 450.1 ounces of gold.
Although a comparison between Renaissance coins and 2023 USD would be misleading, with the value of ducats and florins not having an exact representation in the modern economy, it's safe to say that it was "a lot".
The half-length oil painting has been displayed at the Louvre Museum (the largest art museum ever) since 1797, and it's currently possible to admire the masterpiece in the Salon Carré.
The artistic heritage and cultural importance of Da Vinci’s masterpiece is impossible to estimate, but it's without doubt one of the most valuable artworks of all times.
What you might not know is that the Mona Lisa is also the most valuable object stolen ever!
Actually, part of the painting's modern fame stems from the vicious crime: its two-year long disappearance put La Gioconda at the centre of attention in the art world, increasing its popularity.
Stealing La Gioconda seems like an impossible feat — the kind of grand crime fit for TV shows and fictional criminals. Although such a robbery would probably not be possible in the era of social media, the bizarre story of how a man just walked out of the Louvre Museum with the Mona Lisa continues to amaze the crowds.
But how did someone manage to steal the most important painting in the world?
The Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris in 1911.
Its disappearance led to an investigation and sparked worldwide attention at the time, with the Louvre remaining closed for several days to accommodate investigations.
Little did the police know, at the time, that the thief would manage to escape justice for two full years while hiding right under their noses.
The thief, Vincenzo Peruggia, was an Italian immigrant and an amateur artist himself.
He had worked as a handyman for the museum, and had worked closely with the painting.
On 21 August 1911, Peruggia clocked in at the Parisian museum with all the other workers, stealing one of the white smocks used by the Louvre employees to blend in with the crowd.
He managed to stay in the museum overnight by hiding in a closet and, once the place was empty, he removed the painting from its frame and fled the scene.
Peruggia was familiar with how the painting had been installed and knew his way around the museum, so all he had to do was to walk outside without being noticed. He simply left using the service stairs with the Mona Lisa shrouded in his white smock, disappearing in the mist.
The criminal then kept the painting hidden in a secret drawer in his Parisian apartment for two years.
Meanwhile, outside of Peruggia’s house, the search for the painting continued.
The theft was dubbed “the most colossal crime of modern times” and reported by every single big newspaper of the time.
The scandal even reached the prominent writer Guillaume Apollinaire and the artist Pablo Picasso, who were close friends at the time and who were interrogated and accused of stealing the Mona Lisa.
After two years of uncertainty, their innocence was proved beyond a doubt when Peruggia was eventually caught.
How?
Easy: he tried to profit from the crime and attempted to sell the masterpiece to an art dealer in Florence.
“It was not until November 1913, calling himself Leonardo Vincenzo, that Peruggia wrote to an art dealer in Florence named Alfredo Geri offering to bring the painting to Italy for a reward of 500,000 lire,” reports History Today.
Undisturbed, Peruggia left Paris with the loot and travelled back to Florence by train, with the painting hidden in a trunk.
However, recognizing what Peruggia was trying to sell him, the art dealer contacted Giovanni Poggi, the director of the Uffizi Museum in Florence at the time. Prominent art curator and historian, Poggi worked as the director of the museum from 1912 until his retirement in 1949.
Upon seeing the painting and recognizing the stolen object, Poggi immediately authenticated the painting, called the Italian authorities and placed Peruggia under arrest.
The Mona Lisa remained in the Uffizi for a few weeks for safekeeping before being shipped back to France.
After being interrogated by the police and placed under arrest, Peruggia was found guilty and served a short time in prison.
Although he should have been imprisoned for one year and 15 days, he only served seven months.
Regarded as a criminal by most but as a patriot to some, Peruggia’s true motive for such a crime remains uncertain to this day.
The most widespread theory is that the man aimed to return the painting to what he considered to be its homeland, Italy.
Once one sets foot in Italy, it generally takes a very short time to realize that the narrative that “La Gioconda was stolen by Napoleon” is quite popular across the country.
Despite the inaccuracy of such belief (since Da Vinci brought the painting to France himself), the popular theory of La Gioconda being a stolen piece of Italian heritage remains engraved in the country's culture to this day: partly a joke and partly sparked by nationalism, the idealized desire to “bring La Gioconda home” might have been the motive behind the heist.
However, the patriotic motive was never fully confirmed by Peruggia and, to this day, some theorists speak against it.
The main counterargument is that, if Peruggia really desired to return Da Vinci's masterpiece to its Italic homeland, he would have contacted a museum.
It might have been possible that Peruggia – quite simply – aimed to become rich by selling the painting.
Vincenzo Peruggia, the man who stole La Gioconda
Pietro Vincenzo Peruggia, most widely known under his pseudonym Vincenzo Peruggia, was a sketchy individual that will forever be associated with the greatest art heist in history.
Originally from Varese, a small city in Northern Italy, he moved to Paris in 1908 and worked as a handyman in the Louvre for a time.
His life and crime polarized the media of his time but, surprisingly, he lived a remarkably quiet life after committing "the crime of the Century".
After his release, he went on to serve in the Italian Army during World War I.
Under his true name, Pietro Peruggia, he got married after returning from the war and relocating to France once again. There, ironically enough, he worked as a painter and decorator.
He and his spouse had a daughter, Celestina Peruggia.
Peruggia passed away on the day of his 44th birthday, 8 October 1925, in a Parisian suburb – 14 years after his historical robbery.
To this day, the identity behind Mona Lisa’s cryptic smile remains shrouded in mystery.
The painting is believed to portray either Madonna Lisa Gherardini del Giocondo, reported to be the beautiful wife of silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo of Florence, or of the Italian duchess Costanza d'Avalos, first Duchess of Francavilla and then Princess of Francavilla.
According to Italian historian Giorgio Vasari (as reported in the biography collection Le vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori e architettori, roughly translated in ‘The lives of the most excellent painters, sculptors and architects’ first published in 1550), Da Vinci might have been commissioned by del Giocondo to paint his wife.
The artist worked for four years (and probably longer) to achieve a level of perfection never seen before.
Vasari points out that one can notice every tiny detail of a human face and expression in Mona Lisa’s remarkable face, from her lively eyes to her slight, cryptic smile.
Several centuries later, the magnetic gaze of La Gioconda and her serene smile continue to inspire and attract the public, making it one of the most iconic pieces of art ever created by humankind.
Although we will likely never know the true name behind inspiration for the painting, Vincenzo Peruggia will forever be remembered as the man who stole the Mona Lisa.
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