More than 100 years ago, in August 1911, the Mona Lisa was stolen off the walls of the Louvre in Paris. The famous Leonardo da Vinci painting wasn't recovered until two years later, in December 1913.
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Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago —
Vincenzo Peruggia, the Italian handyman who stole the Mona Lisa, had trouble with the law before -- once for attempting to rob a prostitute and once for carrying a gun during a fistfight.
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Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago —
This reconstruction shows how Peruggia perpetrated the greatest art theft of the 20th century. After hiding in a closet overnight, he simply removed the painting, hid it under his smock and walked out with it under his arm.
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Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago —
Peruggia encountered a locked door as he tried to leave through the Visconti courtyard. He desperately removed the doorknob, to no avail. Then a plumber who was passing by opened the door with a key.
Mary Evans Picture Library/Everett Collection
Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago —
It would be 24 hours before someone noticed the painting was missing. Artwork was often removed to be photographed or cleaned.
Mary Evans Picture Library/Everett Collection
Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago —
Achille Beltrame illustrated the theft in September 1911. "The Louvre had over 400 rooms but only 200 guards and even fewer on duty overnight," said Noah Charney, professor of art history and author of "The Thefts of the Mona Lisa." "There were basically no alarms in play."
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Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago —
A man in Paris offers the score of "Did you? Mona Lisa!!" It was a satirical song about the theft.
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Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago —
Seen here is Peruggia's apartment in Paris, where Peruggia hid the Mona Lisa in a false bottom of a wooden trunk.
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Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago —
Police ransacked Peruggia's apartment in 1911 looking for the stolen painting. They didn't find it.
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Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago —
The poet Guillaume Apollinaire was arrested September 7, 1911, and jailed on suspicion of the Mona Lisa's theft. He was released five days later because prosecutors didn't have the evidence to build a case.
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Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago —
Spanish painter Pablo Picasso was also questioned by police after buying two stone statues from Apollinaire's secretary, Josephe-Honoré Géry Pieret. Once Pieret admitted to stealing the statues from the Louvre in 1907, Apollinaire and Picasso returned them.
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Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago —
The Titanic sank on April 14, 1912, and focus shifted away from the failed investigation of the Mona Lisa theft. The trail had gone cold, and it was reported that the painting had been shipped out of France.
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Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago —
The Hotel Tripoli-Italia, now called the Hotel La Gioconda, is where Peruggia showed the stolen painting to art dealer Alfredo Geri and Uffizi Gallery director Giovanni Poggi in Florence, Italy, on December 10, 1913. Peruggia, who claimed to have stolen the Mona Lisa to return her to her native Italy, was arrested and eventually sentenced to jail.
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Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago —
After Peruggia's arrest, the Mona Lisa was displayed for a week in the Uffizi.
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Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago —
The painting was displayed throughout Italy before it was returned to the Louvre in January 1914.
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Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago —
Guards and a barrier of benches surround the Mona Lisa at the Museum of the Offices of Florence in 1913.
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Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago —
This drawing, on the December 28, 1913, issue of Le Petit Journal, shows Da Vinci showing the Mona Lisa to King Francois I. Below that are drawings of the painting's theft and recovery.
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Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago —
Peruggia appears in a Florence courtroom in June 1914.
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Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago —
After being found guilty, Peruggia served seven months in jail.
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Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago —
Two men carry the Mona Lisa back to the Louvre in January 1914.
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Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago —
The Orens caricature "The return of the Mona Lisa" refers to the theft and recovery of the famous painting.
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Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago —
The Mona Lisa appears in the Louvre in 1929. Today, she is the jewel in the museum's crown, helping attract millions of visitors each year.