WHAT'S THE MONA LISA DOING IN LONDON?

Maybe she's working as a busker to raise money for the trip back to Paris.

WHAT'S THE MONA LISA DOING TODAY?

What else would any woman want to be doing in Paris?  Shopping!

Postcard courtesy of Eileen White

WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK WITH OUR BLOG AFTER THIS COMMERCIAL MESSAGE...

After the theft in 1911 and her return in 1913, the Mona Lisa became so familiar to the average person that merchants began to capitalize on this by putting her face in their ads and on their products.  She became a worldwide celebrity pitch woman for a variety of products --  from cake to chocolate to phonograph needles. Whether she ever did an ad for a feminine hygiene product remains to be seen. (Images courtesy of Eileen White, the Louvre archives and my own personal collection)

For Italian mineral water

For chocolate

For cake

For a pharmacy. This one says that if you cut out the shape, the shadow from it will create the image of the Mona Lisa

Phonograph needles

This was the hotel in Florence where Peruggia was arrested in December 1913.  Originally, it was called the Hotel Tripoli-Italia. But there was such notoriety after the return of the painting, that the owner changed it to the Hotel Gioconda, a name it still has today.  In fact, you can stay in Peruggia's room -- which we did.  But that's a subject of another blog.

WHERE'S MONA LISA TODAY?

According to this postcard, she was taken to Egypt by the famous thief from French literature - Arsene Lupin  (the gentleman on the right). In 1932, there was an American film starring John Barrymore as Arsene Lupin.  (Postcard and Lupin poster courtesy of Eileen White, the Duchess of Poway)

In it, he stole the Mona Lisa.  The first clip is of the painting being stolen and the second is  Arsene returning it. 

    

WHERE'S MONA LISA TODAY?

Or it could be a donkey... a mule... or a badly done horse. The pun is bad too, but it made you look here, didn't it?  What can I say, sex sells. Anyway, here's another in the series or Mona Lisa's post-theft globe trotting adventures. Postcard courtesy of the intrepid Eileen White.

LIVE FROM NEW YORK...

...it's La Joconde in another of her pre-Photoshop adventures.  (Actually, she did go to New York in 1963 to be displayed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art -- thanks to the persuasiveness of Jackie Kennedy. To find out more about Mona's real New York adventure, read Margaret Leslie Davis' book Mona Lisa in Camelot. You can order it here and we'll get a percentage of the profit for our film). 


(Postcard courtesy of Eileen White)

WHERE IS THE MONA LISA TODAY?

Tour de France perhaps? It looks like she's bulked up a bit.  Did they have steroids back then?  (Postcard courtesy of Eileen White)

WHERE IS THE MONA LISA TODAY?

This is one of a series of Mona Lisa postcards that were printed after her disappearance.  They showed her basically traveling around the country and the world.  Here she is near the Moulin Rouge in Paris. Postcard courtesy of our fantastic researcher Eileen White.

A POSTCARD FROM VINCENZO PERUGGIA

After Vincenzo Peruggia was arrested in Florence for trying to sell the Mona Lisa to art dealer Alfredo Geri, the police raided his family's home in Dumenza, Italy. A number of letters and postcards that he had written to his father were seized by police as evidence.  We found many in the Italian archives.  Vincenzo Peruggia who'd been in Paris a little over a year wrote this postcard on this day in 1909.  It deals mainly with money that Peruggia was trying to send home and also concern for his younger Ernesto's working situation. We don't know where Ernesto was working or what he was doing, but oldest brother Vincenzo didn't seem pleased.

Giacomo Peruggia, Vincenzo's father

Ernesto Peruggia, Vincenzo's youngest brother

Dear father,

The other day I received your dear letter and I feel that you all are in good health; my health is fine too.

As of what you told me, you can count on me too. I will send you a good amount.

As for brother Ernesto, I don't like the job he's got; I would be happy if he was waiting tables if not working in the kitchen.

My address is "Rue des Recollettes 27" and "Rue Vinaigriers 37".

I am sending you all a kiss. Your loving son Vincenzo

We think that a relative of Peruggia owned a restaurant which had an apartment above it at 37 Rue Vinaigriers and Peruggia spent his time between there and a hotel on Rue des Recollettes.

Rue des Recollettes

We tried to find 37 Rue Vinaigriers but that doesn't exist. It jumps from 34 to 39. We talked to a shop owner who said that during World War I, the Germans had been given orders to bomb Paris but they couldn't bring themselves to destroy the more beautiful parts of the city so they dropped their bombs on the area around Rue des Vinagriers.

Rue des Vinaigriers

I stumbled on a photo of the police investigating outside 39 Rue des Vinagriers after one of the bombings.

The caption reads.... "Rue des Vinaigriers in Paris, in Paris, a bomb dropped by a German airplane caused an explosion of gas."

I THINK BETTER NAMES WOULD BE RUFFAEL AND MUTTISE

On this day in 1911, Acting Louvre Director Eugene Pujalet asked Prefect Paris Police for Lepine for two specially trained dogs to accompany the watchmen on their rounds. These were to prevent anyone from spending the night in the Louvre as the police had suspected whoever stole the Mona Lisa did. (Peruggia didn't) Pujalet selected them at the police kennels at Charenton.  The dogs answer to the names Jack and Milord. The first being of a breed from Greenland origin, the second from Belgium .

IS BERTHE THE BEST MONA LISA?

So far, Berthe Bovy (#7) leads the voting in the best Mona Lisa.  Born January 6, 1887, she joined the Comedy Francaise in 1907. She appeared in film. theater and television programs for over 60 years.  She died on February 26, 1977. Vote now for the ones you think are the best and the worst!

#1 AIDA BONI OF THE OPERA

#2 JEANNE REMY OF THE COMEDIE FRANCAISE

 

 

#3 JEANNE FABER OF THE COMEDIE FRANCAISE

#4 MARTHE CHENAL OF THE OPERA

#5 LUCY ARBELL OF THE OPERA

#6 LUCIENNE GUETT OF THE ODEON

# 7 BERTHE BOVY OF THE COMEDIE FRANCAISE

#7 MME DUSSANE OF THE COMEDIE FRANCAISE

#9 GILDA D'ARTHY OF THE ODEON

#10 GABRIELLE DORZIAT OF VAUDEVILLE

WOULD ANGELINA JOLIE HAVE DONE THIS?

Thanks to my fantastic researcher Eileen White, I found out where the photos of these actresses came from -- a publication called Comoedia Illustre. Up to now,  I only knew them as 20 photos we found in the Louvre Archives. This magazine covered all the actors and actresses of the day.  I guess it was like their People magazine.  These women were some of the top ladies of the stage and the Opera. It would be like Angelena Jolie, Julia Roberts or Tina Fey dressing up as Gioconda. Here are another 5.

#6 Lucienne Guett of the Odeon

# 7 Berthe Bovy of the Comedie Francaise

#7 Mme Dussane of the Comedie Francaise

#9 Gilda D'Arthy of the Odeon

#10 Gabrielle Dorziat of Vaudeville

WHO'S THE MONA MOSTA? AND THE MONA LEASTA?

After the Mona Lisa was stolen, someone had to take her place, so it became fashionable for the ladies of the day to dress up as DaVinci's Gioconda. We found 20 photos worth in the Louvre archives.  Here are just a few. I've numbered them - who do you think is the Best?  And who's the worst? Tell me Add it to the comments.  If I get enough responses we'll do a beauty contest with all 20.

#1 AIDA BONI OF THE OPERA

#2 JEANNE REMY OF THE COMEDIE FRANCAISE

#3 JEANNE FABER OF THE COMEDIE FRANCAISE

#4 MARTHE CHENAL OF THE OPERA

#5 LUCY ARBELL OF THE OPERA