In 1911, the Louvre's treasure of the town hall, the Mona Lisa, mysteriously disappeared. The police have been investigating for two years but still without success. But one day two years later, a man claimed to have returned the Mona Lisa to Italy out of patriotism. At this point, the world's famous paintings can be seen again.
The Mona Lisa is gone
The Louvre is a world-famous museum with a large collection of treasures, the most precious of which is the Mona Lisa by the world-famous painter Leonardo da Vinci. However, this masterpiece mysteriously disappeared on August 21, 1911.
It was Monday, and the Louvre was closed as is customary and does not accept tourists. Only a few staff members walked around the exhibition hall. Piquet, the louvre's maintenance director, makes daily tours of the Louvre to inspect the museum's collections.
He loved the Mona Lisa so much that every time he walked to the exhibition hall with the Mona Lisa, he would proudly point to the painting and say, "This is the louvre's most precious work of art." Therefore, every day when Piquet inspects the Louvre, he pays special attention to this masterpiece.
On this day, Piquet, who had finished his inspection work, was ready to leave, and he habitually looked at the time, which was 7:20. After that, he went to the exhibition hall where the Mona Lisa was hung, but something amazing happened, the unique painting was gone, and only four iron nails for hanging the painting were left on the wall. Piquet could be sure that the painting was still here at the time of yesterday's tour.
He immediately asked the other Louvre staff about the situation. Some Louvre staff said they had discovered the Mona Lisa was missing yesterday morning, but they thought it was the Louvre photographer who had taken the painting for a picture, and no one realized that someone had stolen the painting. Therefore, none of them reported the matter to their superiors, let alone not notify the police to conduct an investigation. The next day, the staff at the museum realized that something was wrong and that the Mona Lisa had not been put back. So someone went to the photographer to look for it, but they didn't see the famous painting.
When Piquet learned of this, he was so shocked that he couldn't believe it. Piquet and the other staff immediately reported the case to the police station.
Mona Lisa of "Stone Sinking into the Sea"
On August 22, the Louvre decided to close for a week after calling the police. The French authorities were furious at the loss of such a precious painting in the Louvre and immediately punished all the guards of the Louvre. The Louvre's curator, Diofil O'Molle, and the chief of the guards, were dismissed.
On the same day, the major parisian newspapers prominently published the theft of the Mona Lisa. The whole of France was shocked by the news. In addition, major Italian newspapers also published about the theft of the Mona Lisa, because the author of this painting, Da Vinci, is Italian, so Italy is the home of this famous painting, and it should belong to Italy.
On August 23, a huge portrait of the Mona Lisa was published in Le Parisien, accompanied by a commentary, all ironic. It wasn't long before a well-known joke appeared in Paris, France: "Friend, I'm going to the Louvre, do I want to bring you something?" ”
The Mona Lisa is a world treasure, and in order to retrieve it, France has dispatched almost all the police forces in the country to search for it. However, as time passed, the police still made no progress. Initially, the competence of the French police was also questioned and the incompetence of the police station was blamed. But as time went on, people gradually forgot their initial anger and sadness.
Later, the Louvre was opened to the public again. Those who come in to visit the Louvre walk through the hall where the Mona Lisa was originally displayed, they can't help but look a few times at the place where the painting was originally hung, where only four iron nails remain.
The French government has been tracking down the mona Lisa, but has not been heard from for two years. The French have also stopped expecting anything from this.
Recreate the "mysterious smile"
After two years, the mysterious smile that has almost been forgotten has reappeared in front of people's eyes.
On November 29, 1913, Jerry, who lived in Florence, Italy, received a letter. The letter mentions that if Jerry could pay a hefty fee, he would return the Mona Lisa to Italy. He also mentioned in his letter that he did so out of love for his country and was therefore willing to return the stolen national treasure, the Mona Lisa. The letter was written as "Leonardo".
As an antique dealer, Jerry has received replicas of the Mona Lisa more than once. In this regard, he consulted many authoritative figures such as Corrado Ricci, director of the Florence Art Museum. These people said that they could first distinguish between true and false. Jerry, who received support, sent a reply to Leonardo, saying that he agreed to his request.
Jerry and Leonardo agreed to meet at a hotel in Florence on December 12.
On the same day, Jerry and one of his professional friends arrived at the agreed location. Jerry didn't have much hope for the trip, but he was stunned when he saw the painting. The painting has the Louvre number on the back, and Jack also finds that the cracks in the painting are exactly the same as those in the original photograph they brought. Cracks in paintings are the main basis for identifying the authenticity of ancient paintings.
Jerry was shocked by all this, and "Leonardo" brought the real Mona Lisa!
The masterpiece is just around the corner, but Jerry and his friends don't show too much excitement, just calmly tell Leonardo to wait here, and they go back to get their rewards. However, after the two men left the hotel, they went to the police station.
Receiving a report from Jerry and his friends, the police arrived immediately.
It turns out that "Leonardo" didn't wait for Jerry, who came back with the bonus, but waited for the police.
Confessions of the Thief
In the face of the police, the already timid "Leonardo" quickly told the truth of the matter.
"Leonardo", originally named Vincenzo Perugia, was an Italian. He said he could easily steal the Mona Lisa, the treasure of the Louvre's town hall. There are many niches in the Louvre, which are usually placed on easels and canvases and are very hidden. Piquet left the exhibition hall after his inspection, as usual, and Perugia came out of an alcove. The niche was so close to the Mona Lisa that he easily picked it up.
At that time, in order to prevent the fire, the Louvre only nailed the painting to the wall with iron nails for easy extraction. Perugia took the painting to the corner of a staircase, cut it out of the frame with the corresponding tools, put it in his pocket, and walked out of the Louvre in full view.
Perugia was a 30-year-old painter when he stole the Mona Lisa. He said he didn't want to continue his old life and wanted to change. So he was seduced by the priceless painting of the Mona Lisa.
In addition, there is another reason that prompted him to steal the painting: it is very easy to steal, and it is not suspected by anyone. Fortunately, the painting has not been damaged in Perugia's hands for two years, and still maintains its original mysterious smile. Perugia did change his life because of the painting, he was not convicted of a felony, and the Italian authorities only sentenced him to 12 and a half months in prison.
Theft of the Louvre
The Louvre's art has been stolen several times, and the French Ministry of Culture has taken corresponding measures, agreeing in 1988 to a plan to strengthen the security measures of the exhibition hall.
Today, the Louvre, the world's largest and most magnificent museum, has around 1,000 guards. However, the number of visitors from all over the world is also very large, and the louvre has a daily traffic of 8,000 people. On free weekends, the number of visitors could reach 30,000. As a result, the louvre theft could not be prevented, which was a headache for the French authorities.
On May 3, 1998, a Louvre guard suddenly realized that "Sèvres' Road" was missing at about two o'clock in the afternoon. This painting was painted by the famous painter Kolo in the early 19th century and is one of the many treasures of the Louvre. According to the relevant staff of the Louvre, the thieves used a glass cutter to dig a hole in the glass of the frame where the painting was placed, then cut the canvas with a knife, and finally put it in the clothes to take out of the Louvre. Because the canvas was easy to hide, the Louvre guards were unable to spot the thieves.
On September 27, 2004, the Louvre was stolen again. On the same day, the famous Swiss jewelry company Chopin Jewelry held a jewelry exhibition at the Louvre. They exhibited more than 100 pieces of precious antique jewelry and diamonds without a decorative setting at the show.
Among them, two extremely valuable diamonds were on display, one 47 carats worth 6 million euros and one 30 carats worth 5.5 million euros. Toward the end of the show, however, the two diamonds were gone and never recovered.
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