How The Mona Lisa Became A Cultural Icon
The theft of the world’s most famous painting
On August 21st 1911, the Mona Lisa painting vanished from the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Three men disguised as museum staff quietly slipped away with the painting stowed beneath a blanket. They had hidden in the museum overnight. And with the stolen painting freed from its frame and glass, they hurried to the Quai d’Orsay station where they boarded a 7:47 am express out of the city.
The audacious theft of the Mona Lisa was only discovered when museum staff entered the Salon Carré, the room where the painting hung, and found a blank section of wall. All that remained were the four iron pegs that once fastened the object in place.
When the alarm went out, the police rushed to the museum. The doors were locked, staff and visitors were detained — but by then the painting had already left the city. After its disappearance, France’s borders were placed on high alert, with officials examining every vehicle that crossed the border.
The news went around the world, with the New York Times declaring, “60 Detectives Seek Stolen ‘Mona Lisa,’ French Public Indignant.”
When the museum reopened a week later, huge numbers of Parisians queued to witness the empty wall where the famous painting…
