AN AMERICAN DID IT

Newspapers in 1911 were filled with stories of a mysterious American art collector who was behind the theft of the Mona Lisa.  Americans were easy suspects because at the time many had become rich enough to begin gobbling up European art. The articles said that the American "was a close student of the 'Mona Lisa' and talked a great deal about it" although there was nothing to connect him with the actual disappearance.  His name wasn't mentioned and it was said that he was a resident of a western city in the US, casting immediate suspicion on H.E. Huntington and William Randolph Hearst.

The American most often named in connection with the Mona Lisa theft was financier J.P. Morgan (below) who was repeatedly dogged by these rumors even after his death in Rome in 1913.

 

WERE THESE FACES REALLY WORTH MORE THAN THE MONA LISA?

These are the cherubs from Raphael's painting the Sistine Madonna (below)

In 1911, after the theft of the Mona Lisa, there was a lot of talk about how much the painting was worth and $5,000,000 was the typical amount mentioned.  But an article in the New York Times said: "That is a large sum of money, preposterously large for any painting, but the intrinsic value of Da Vinci's portrait is probably only less than that of the Sistine Madonna." (NYT, Aug 23, 1911)

Painted between 1513-1514, the Sistine Madonna is one of Raphael's best-loved masterpieces.  It was highly regarded in art circles as perhaps the best example of western art -- even better than the Mona Lisa.

The canvas was originally located in the convent of St. Sixtus in Piacenza, Italy. It now hangs in a museum in Dresden, Germany.

THE DAY EVERYONE CAME TO STARE AT A BLANK SPOT ON THE WALL

ON THIS DAY IN 1911 - 8 days after the theft of the Mona Lisa, the Louvre re-opened. The New York Times reported “Everyone entering the museum went to the Salon Carre to stare at the vacant space on the wall where the masterpiece had hung and to discuss the theft.”

Thirty inspectors and three sub-sergeants were placed in rooms designated by Museum Director Homolle.

Around noon, 80 people were in the Salon Carre. A woman placed a bouquet of roses at the spot where the Mona Lisa had hung. They were removed immediately by a museum employee. Even Franz Kafka would make the pilgrimage to the museum to stare at the "mark of shame."

The spot remained empty until January 7, 1912 when the Louvre filled the space with Raphael's portrait of Count Baldassare Castiglione who had once written a poem about the Mona Lisa.

Raphael's Baldassare Castiglione

IF SHE HAD BEEN STOLEN IN THE 1980s, HER FACE WOULD HAVE BEEN ON A MILK CARTON

We all know the Mona Lisa's face today. But can you believe that in 1911 they had to distribute flyers?  Judge Henri Drioux, who was the Examining Magistrate and basically the guy in charge of the investigation, had 6500 flyers with the Mona Lisa's face on them handed out to detectives and others so that they would know the painting if they saw her.

The actual flyer

Judge Drioux's description of the Mona Lisa

THE LOUVRE GOES TO THE DOGS

On this day in 1911, the New York Times reported that robberies in the Louvre became so common that the Minister of Fine Arts directed that a corps of fox terriers, especially trained in barking, should be employed to aid the watchmen at night.

Minister of Fine Arts Dujardin-Beaumetz

DID THE CURSE OF KING TUT'S TOMB KILL THIS LOUVRE ADMINISTRATOR?

On August 21, 1911 when the Mona Lisa was stolen, Theophile Homolle, the director of National Museums and Curator of the Louvre was on vacation.  So Georges Benedite, the curator of Egyptian antiquities was in charge.  He was the one who notified police that the painting was missing.

Benedite came to an unusual end in 1926 - some say from King Tut's curse.  A note Egyptologist, Benedite had been exploring in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt since 1888. He had visited the tomb after it was discovered by archaeologist Howard Carter in November, 1922.   Legend has it that anywhere from 12 to 26 people have died shortly after being around the tomb or Tut's mummy.

French physican and scholar Dr. J.C. Mardrus writing in the French paper Oeuvre in 1927 said "The death of Benedite did not surprise me at all ... Since Tut-Ankh-Amen's tomb was opened there have been a succession of dramatic events ... I am convinced that the Egyptians for 7000 years possessed the secret of surrounding their mummies with some dynamic force, of which we have only the faintest idea. "
(The Theosophical Path, Page 553)

Benedite died in 1926 of heat stroke, three years after working at the site.

Georges Benedite

Howard Carter opens Tut's tomb

POLICE FIND A DOORKNOB

On this day in 1911, the police found a knob from this door at the bottom of the service staircase where the Mona Lisa's frame was found.  It was lying in a ditch outside the Louvre where a man going to work had seen Peruggia throw it. A plumber named Sauvet going down the steps on Monday, the day of the theft, saw a man sitting there. He said: “I think that I could recognize the individual that I crossed in the staircase.  He was tall, about 1m70, (5’6”) he wore a reddish mustache, a beard that was a bit dark, a chin and cheeks that were a little sunken." Peruggia was 1m61 (5'3") with a brown moustache.

The "Saut de Loup"outside the Louvre where the knob was found

THEFT OF THE MONA LISA - A CLUE

On this day in 1911, newspapers ran this headline:

Police have Clues

On the day of the theft - Monday, August 21 - a man was spotted walking outside the Louvre about 7:30 am carrying a large panel wrapped in a cloth.

Subsequently, a police official said that he saw a tall stout individual who appeared agitated, carrying a large panel covered with a horse blanket. The man jumped on the 7:47 express for Bordeaux as it was pulling out of the Quai d’Orsay station.

The first sighting was Peruggia. The second wasn't. Peruggia didn't get on a train.  He got on a bus to go back to his room 2 miles from the Louvre.  But it was the wrong bus, so he jumped off and took a cab. He got home, stashed the painting in his room and then ran to work -- two hours late. He told his boss he was late because he had been drinking the night before.

I recreated Peruggia's walk for a Canadian TV show - Museum Discoveries. (Except he didn't have the Mona Lisa quite as exposed)

THEFT OF THE MONA LISA - DAY 3 -AUGUST 23, 1911

On this day 99 years ago, the news broke in the New York Times and other morning papers in America that the Mona Lisa was missing. Although she is an icon and an extremely well-known face today, she wasn't as well known in 1911. In fact, above is the picture that the Washington Post said was the Mona Lisa. This is the Monna Vanna, one of the many nude copies of the Mona Lisa. A few days later, the Post corrected their mistake.

The Theft of the Mona Lisa: DAY 2- August 22, 1911

At 11 am, the Mona Lisa's  empty frame was found on a service staircase. At 12:30, Georges Benedite, the curator in charge who was home having lunch was told "The Mona Lisa is no longer in her frame." He went to the police. Later that afternoon 60 detectives arrived to search the museum.  Watch the video to find out what museum visitors were told about why the museum was closing early.

The 99th ANNIVERSARY of the THEFT

On this day in 1911, at 7:15 am, Vincenzo Peruggia walked into the Louvre and walked out with the Mona Lisa.  No one noticed it was missing until 11 am the next day!

We'll be posting the Mona Lisa fact of the day every day until the 100th anniversary of the theft





Treasures of the World - Theft of the Mona Lisa & Guernica: Testimony of WarThe Theft of the Mona Lisa (Quest Books)The Theft of the Mona Lisa (Quest Books)Gioconda: The Theft of Mona Lisa