Who stole Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa from the Louvre in 1911?

Vincenzo Peruggia stole Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa from the Louvre in 1911.

Peruggia was an Italian employee of the Louvre who removed the painting on 21 August 1911. He hid it in his apartment for two years, reportedly believing that the work should be returned to Italy. The theft caused a huge international search and made the portrait even more famous.

In December 1913, Peruggia contacted an art dealer in Florence and offered to return the painting. He was arrested after bringing it to the Uffizi Gallery. The Mona Lisa was displayed in several Italian cities before being returned to Paris in January 1914.

The investigation briefly drew suspicion toward figures including Pablo Picasso, who had previously owned Iberian sculptures taken from the Louvre, and poet Guillaume Apollinaire. Neither was responsible. Peruggia was convicted in Italy and received a short prison sentence.