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The Theft That Made the Mona Lisa Famous
On 21 August 1911 the Mona Lisa disappeared from the Louvre. For more than two years the most famous empty space in Paris drew crowds, and the painting came back a global icon.
Image not reproduced
Mona Lisa
La Gioconda
- Artist
- Leonardo da Vinci
- Date
- c. 1503–1519
- Medium
- Oil on poplar panel
- Dimensions
- 79 × 53 cm
- Location
- Louvre Museum, ParisInventory no. INV. 779
Leonardo da Vinci's portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo, painted in oil on poplar between about 1503 and 1519. Acquired by King François I in 1518, it is now in the Louvre, where its theft in 1911 made it one of the best-known images in the world.
Historical context
The Louvre identifies the sitter as Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo, and dates the work about 1503–1519. François I acquired it in 1518.1
On 21 August 1911 it was stolen by Vincenzo Peruggia, a former Louvre worker; it was recovered in Florence in December 1913 and returned to Paris in January 1914.2
Interpretation
The French name La Joconde and the Italian La Gioconda come from the sitter's married name; Monna means lady in old Italian.1
Symbols and meanings
- The protective glass caseEstablished fact
- The theft began with Peruggia removing the panel from a glass case he had helped to build.The Heist That Made the Mona Lisa Famous
Sources
- 1Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo, known as the Mona Lisa. Musée du Louvre, Paris
- 2The Heist That Made the Mona Lisa Famous. Evan Andrews, HISTORY, 2016
