Mona Lisa theft in 1911 transformed the painting into a global icon

On August 21, 1911, Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece, the Mona Lisa, was stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris. The thief, Vincenzo Peruggia, was an Italian glass and frame specialist who had previously worked at the museum. He hid the painting under a white smock and walked out of the building during a day when the museum was closed to the public.

Peruggia kept the painting in a double-bottomed suitcase in his Paris apartment for two years. His motive was reportedly a desire to return the artwork to its Italian homeland, based on the mistaken belief that it had been stolen by Napoleon. In December 1913, he attempted to sell the painting to an art dealer in Florence, Italy. The theft was discovered, and the painting was recovered.

The heist, described by the Louvre as the ‘theft of the century’, had a profound impact on the painting’s legacy. While already a respected work, the international media frenzy surrounding its disappearance transformed the Mona Lisa into a global cultural icon. Following its recovery, the painting was returned to the Louvre in early 1914 under significantly stricter security measures.