Mona Lisa on the Move

Millions of people visit the Louvre Museum in Paris each year. Many want a glimpse of one painting in particular—the Mona Lisa. The Louvre is its home now, but the painting has moved around a lot. Leonardo da Vinci began working on the portrait in Italy. He started it sometime between 1503 and 1506.

In 1516 the French king invited da Vinci to France. Da Vinci accepted, and he brought the painting with him when he moved. Before da Vinci died, the French king bought the painting. Later French kings hung it in their palaces until 1793. That year the Louvre Palace became a public museum. The Mona Lisa was put on display in the museum. But it did not stay there for long.

Within a decade, Napoleon took over France, and the Mona Lisa moved again. Napoleon hung the painting in his own bedroom! Soon it ended up back on display in the Louvre. The Mona Lisa was not a very popular painting though. This all changed in August 1911.

On a Tuesday morning, a visitor to the museum noticed the painting was gone. At first the museum staff didn't worry. Paintings were often removed to be cleaned or photographed. But soon the staff realized something was terribly wrong. The painting had been stolen! It turned out that an Italian man named Vincenzo Peruggia had taken it.

He believed that the Italian masterpiece belonged in Italy, not France. So Peruggia, a handyman for the museum, came up with a plan. He knew the museum was always closed on Mondays. One Sunday, after the museum closed for the day, he hid in a closet. The next morning, he removed the frame from the painting.

He hid the Mona Lisa under his jacket. Then he walked right out of the museum! The bold theft made headlines around the world. Instantly the Mona Lisa became the world's most famous painting. For two years Peruggia kept the painting hidden in a trunk. Eventually he returned to Italy. He tried to sell the painting there and was caught.