In 1911, Mona Lisa was stolen in one of history’s most bizarre heists: The thief hid it under his clothes and nobody realised it was gone for more than a day

It sounds almost too ridiculous to be true: a man walked into the Louvre, lifted Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa from the wall, tucked it under his work clothes and simply walked out.

Yet that is essentially what happened on 21 August 1911.

The thief was Italian Louvre worker Vincenzo Peruggia, and his extraordinary heist would become one of the most famous art thefts in history. More surprisingly, the stolen painting was not yet the global superstar it is today. The enormous publicity surrounding its disappearance helped transform the Mona Lisa into an international icon. The Louvre itself describes the episode as “the theft of the century” and notes that the painting's fame grew even further after its recovery.


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The day the Mona Lisa disappeared

According to historical records, Monday, 21 August 1911, proved to be the perfect day for a theft.

The Louvre was closed to ordinary visitors, and Peruggia knew the building well. He had previously worked there for a firm involved in making frames and protective cases for paintings.

According to the National Geographic and the State Archives of Florence, Peruggia entered the museum early in the morning wearing the sort of work clothes that allowed him to blend in with employees. He made his way to the Salon Carré, where Leonardo's painting was displayed.

He removed the Mona Lisa from the wall, took off its protective frame and glass case and concealed the painting beneath his work clothes.

Then came the astonishing bit: he walked out of the Louvre.

The Louvre says Peruggia was a glazier who had worked at the museum and that he later tried to sell the painting to an Italian art dealer.

Nobody noticed the Mona Lisa was gone

You might expect a missing Leonardo da Vinci painting to trigger an instant alarm.

It didn't. According to the Washington Post, it took around 26 hours for anyone to realise the Mona Lisa had disappeared. At the time, paintings were sometimes temporarily removed for photography or conservation work, so the empty space did not immediately raise the alarm.

When the theft was finally discovered, all that remained were the hooks on the wall.

The National Geographic similarly reported that more than 24 hours passed before the painting's disappearance was noticed.

The Mona Lisa was not yet the world's biggest painting

This is perhaps the strangest part of the whole story.

Today, the Mona Lisa is probably the first painting that comes to mind when people think of Leonardo da Vinci. In 1911, however, it was not necessarily the Louvre's biggest crowd-puller.

The Smithsonian Magazine noted that the painting's reputation had grown among art critics during the 19th century, but that its fame had not yet spread to the wider public on anything like today's scale. Other Louvre masterpieces, including the Venus de Milo and Nike of Samothrace, attracted greater attention.

Then Peruggia stole it.

And suddenly, everyone wanted to know where it was.

The theft became a worldwide media sensation

Once news of the disappearance broke, the Mona Lisa went from respected Renaissance portrait to international celebrity.

Newspapers splashed the story across their pages, wanted notices appeared and crowds gathered at the Louvre.

The Library of Congress, which has compiled contemporary newspaper coverage of the theft, says the Mona Lisa became the world's most famous missing painting in 1911 and that its disappearance generated enormous international attention.

The Louvre itself says that articles multiplied and rewards were offered for the painting's return, while the mystery continued for more than two years.

Even Pablo Picasso was questioned during the investigation, although he had nothing to do with the theft. HISTORY reports that police investigated Picasso and the poet Guillaume Apollinaire because of their association with a man who had stolen small objects from the Louvre.

Peruggia hid the painting for more than two years

After the theft, Peruggia kept the Mona Lisa hidden in Paris.

He eventually travelled to Italy with the painting and, in December 1913, approached Florentine art dealer Alfredo Geri.

Peruggia apparently believed he could persuade Geri to help return the painting to Italy. Instead, Geri contacted the authorities.

The State Archives of Florence records that Peruggia had kept the painting in his Paris room for more than two years and eventually contacted Geri, whose involvement led to the painting's recovery and Peruggia's arrest.

The Louvre gives a similarly straightforward account: Peruggia tried to sell the painting to an Italian art dealer, who alerted the authorities, leading to its recovery.

Why did Vincenzo Peruggia steal the Mona Lisa?

Peruggia later claimed that he wanted to return Leonardo's painting to Italy.

According to HISTORY, he presented the theft as an act of patriotic duty, claiming he wanted to avenge Italy after Napoleon's campaigns. However, investigators also found evidence that complicated this explanation, including a list of art collectors among his possessions.

So whether Peruggia was really motivated by patriotism, money or a mixture of both remains part of the enduring story surrounding the theft.

What is certain is that his plan to quietly return or sell the painting spectacularly backfired.

The Mona Lisa came home to a much bigger audience

After Peruggia's arrest, the Mona Lisa was displayed in several Italian cities before being returned to France.

The painting arrived back at the Louvre with something it had never quite had before: global celebrity.

The Library of Congress notes that the theft itself helped turn the Mona Lisa into a world-famous artwork.

The Louvre makes the same point in its own account, saying that after the painting was recovered, “her fame was all the greater”.

And that may be the biggest twist in the entire saga.

The theft may have created the Mona Lisa we know today

Leonardo da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa centuries before Peruggia ever laid hands on it. But the painting's journey from admired Renaissance portrait to global cultural phenomenon was accelerated dramatically by its disappearance.

The Smithsonian Magazine described the theft as an event that helped secure the painting's status as an art-world icon, while the Library of Congress records how the disappearance turned it into the world's most famous missing painting.

In a bizarre way, Peruggia may have given the Mona Lisa something no artist could have deliberately painted into it: a mystery.

Today, the painting is displayed in the Louvre's Salle des États under carefully controlled conditions and protected by a climate-controlled glass case.

More than a century after one man walked out of the Louvre with it hidden under his clothes, the Mona Lisa is no longer simply Leonardo's mysterious portrait.

It is the painting that was stolen, disappeared, sparked a worldwide manhunt and came back even more famous than before.


Inputs from agencies