Mona Lisa Mona Lisa Booking.com Mona Lisa, painted by Leonardo da Vinci, is the most famous painting of the Louvre Museum, the largest museum in the world. It is probably too the most famous painting in the world. No one can skip the Mona Lisa. But, by all means, don't limit your visit to the Louvre Museum to Mona Lisa and discover the many other treasures of this infinitely rich museum of arts. The famous Mona Lisa painting Mona Lisa is the most famous masterpiece of the Louvre Museum. Mona Lisa is so famous there is always a crowd around it taking pictures and trying to get a glimpse of it. Mona Lisa is an oil painting on wood. It portaits the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, a woman, dressed in Florentine fashion seated in a visionary, mountainous landscape. Mona Lisa is a remarkable example of Leonardo's sfumato technique of soft, heavily shaded modeling. The Mona Lisa's enigmatic expression, which seems both alluring and aloof, has given the portrait universal fame. Mona Lisa is one of the glories of the collection of Italian renaissance paintings of the Louvre. Don't skip the others.

If you want to see it in good conditions, we suggest you come at opening time and walk directly to it. The crowd in front of Mona Lisa History of Mona Lisa Leonardo da Vinci began painting the Mona Lisa in 1503 in Florence, Italy. According to Leonardo's contemporary, Giorgio Vasari, "after he had lingered over it four years, he left it unfinished". Leonardo, later in his life, is said to have regretted "never having completed a single work". In 1516, Leonardo was invited by King François I to work at the Clos Luce near the King's castle of Amboise in the Loire Valley . It is believed that he took the Mona Lisa with him and continued to work after he moved to Clos Luce. Upon his death, the painting was inherited by his pupil Salaì. Francis I bought the painting for 4,000 ecus and kept it at Palace of Fontainebleau , where it remained until Louis XIV moved the painting to the Palace of Versailles .

After the 1789 French Revolution, the painting was moved to the Louvre Museum, but spent a brief period in the bedroom of Napoleon in the Tuileries Palace near Le Louvre. Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa See Mona Lisa in Louvre Introduction to Mona Lisa La Belle Ferroniere - Louvre La Belle Ferronniere is another painting in the Louvre attributed to Leonardo da Vinci. It is said to be a portrait of Ludovico Sforza's mistress Lucrezia Crivelli. The sitter gazes out from a dark background. Her head and shoulders are illuminated by a light from the front, she is almost lit by the viewer’s eyes. Her head turns with a twisting motion to her left and her eyes also gaze to the left complementing the sense of movement. Leonardo has achieved an astonishing smoothness of finish in the facial tones. The lady wears a Spanish costume and a decoration of beads around her neck. The beauty that Leonardo has achieved with this portrait was acclaimed at the time when it was first created.

La belle ferroniere - Vinci - Louvre The Virgin and Child with St Anne - Leonardo da Vinci - Louvre Museum The Virgin and Child with St Anne in Louvre Museum was painted by Leonardo Da Vinci in 1510. It is Oil on wood and measures 168 x 130 cm. This painting depicts St. Anne, her daughter, the Virgin Mary, and the infant Jesus. Christ is shown grappling with a sacrificial lamb symbolising his Passion whilst the Virgin tries to restrain him. The painting was commissioned as the high altarpiece for the Church of Santissima Annunziata in Florence. MONA LISA IN THE LOUVRE MUSEUM, PARIS, FRANCE - YouTube MONA LISA IN THE LOUVRE MUSEUM, PARIS, FRANCE Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later.

Published on Aug 29, 2012 Originally a royal palace, the Louvre became a public museum at the end of the 18th century. It is located in the heart of Paris. There are about 35.000 objects on display, but the most famous there is Leonardo DaVinci's painting of Mona Lisa. It is the world's most famous painting, and the world's most famous work of art. The Louvre Museum is home to the painting, which is Leonardo da Vinci's most celebrated work. Category The Mona Lisa: history and mystery - Louvre museum - Paris Museums - Paris - PARISCityVISION The Mona Lisa: history and mystery The Mona Lisa: history and mystery The Mona Lisa is one of the most emblematic portraits in the history of painting. Painted by Leonardo da Vinci in the 16th century, it joined the collections of the court of France before being added to the works on display at the Louvre Museum . A painting in the bags of Leonardo da Vinci It is often said that the Mona Lisa was a work that Leonardo da Vinci, by invitation from King François I, brought with him to France.

The history books mention a female portrait that was with the Italian artist and scientist when he stayed at Clos Lucé castle (also known as the Manoir du Cloux) near to the Loire Château of Amboise. The Mona Lisa then belonged to the royal collections and was exhibited at the Palace of Versailles during the reign of Louis XIV. It only came to the Louvre in 1797. An enduring appeal The composition technique of the Mona Lisa makes it one of the most studied works in the history of art and by apprentice artists. It is highly regarded for its modern framing as a portrait that could be painted now. More subtly, optical effects are created by the positioning of the young woman’s eyes and her enigmatic smile. Some people say they feel watched by the Mona Lisa, no matter where they are standing. This anecdote demonstrates Leonardo da Vinci’s scientific and anatomical knowledge. As for the Mona Lisa’s famous smile, witness accounts say that a group of musicians played while the painter worked to keep this joyful attitude. The background is also a textbook case. The sfumato technique is used to create perspective that merges gently.

Constructing the legend of the Mona Lisa It is undoubtedly the mystery of the Mona Lisa that has made it so famous. But is it actually Lisa who is depicted? It is reported that the person who commissioned the painting from Leonardo da Vinci was a nobleman living in Florence. Twice widowed, Francesco del Giocondo married a young woman named Lisa in 1495. It is this story that gave the little painting, measuring 30 inches x 21 inches, its name. Another theory is that the young woman in the picture is no other than a mistress of Giuliano de' Medici, ruler of the Republic of Florence. The mystery has never been solved. The Mona Lisa became popular with the general public when it was famously stolen in 1911. The press jumped on the event: people wanted to know who could have stolen the Mona Lisa, why, and above all how. The painting was found, and the guilty party was an overly nationalistic Italian named Vincenzo Peruggia, who had intended to return the work to his home country. The Mona Lisa in popular culture In 1919, Marcel Duchamp used the portrait of Mona Lisa as the basis for his own version.

He wrote the letters “LHOOQ” along the bottom, like “look” in English, but when each letter is read out loud in French, it makes a bawdy joke. In 2003, Dan Brown’s novel sold more than 80 million copies and gave a new dimension to the Mona Lisa. She is the focus of one of the mysteries in the Da Vinci Code , the international crime bestseller. The Mona Lisa continues to surprise us. Her mystery attracts the crowds to the point of almost being an icon of the Louvre Museum. To see her, head to the Paintings Department , Denon wing, room 6. The Day the Mona Lisa Was Stolen The Day the Mona Lisa Was Stolen Sign Up for Our Free Newsletters Thanks, You're in! Health Tip of the Day Recipe of the Day There was an error. Please try again. Please select a newsletter. Please enter a valid email address. Did you mean ? The famous Leonardo Da Vinci painting "The Mona Lisa" is seen on display in the Grande Galerie of the Louvre museum in Paris, France. (Pascal Le Segretain/Staff / Getty Images) Updated December 08, 2016.

On August 21, 1911, Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, one of the most famous paintings in the world, was stolen right off the wall of the Louvre (famous museum in Paris, France). It was such an inconceivable crime, that the Mona Lisa wasn't even noticed missing until the following day. Who would steal such a famous painting? Why did they do it? Was the Mona Lisa lost forever? The Discovery Everyone had been talking about the glass panes that museum officials at the Louvre had put in front of several of their most important paintings. Museum officials stated it was to help protect the paintings, especially because of recent acts of vandalism. The public and the press thought the glass was too reflective. Louis Béroud, a painter, decided to join in the debate by painting a young French girl fixing her hair in the reflection from the pane of glass in front of the Mona Lisa. continue reading below our video 10 Facts About the Titanic That You Don't Know On Tuesday, August 22, 1911, Béroud walked into the Louvre and went to the Salon Carré where the Mona Lisa had been on display for five years.

But on the wall where the Mona Lisa used to hang, in between Correggio's Mystical Marriage and Titian's Allegory of Alfonso d'Avalos, sat only four iron pegs. Béroud contacted the section head of the guards, who thought the painting must be at the photographers'. A few hours later, Béroud checked back with the section head. It was then discovered the Mona Lisa was not with the photographers. The section chief and other guards did a quick search of the museum—no Mona Lisa. Since Théophile Homolle, the museum director, was on vacation, the curator of Egyptian antiquities was contacted. He, in turn, called the Paris police. About 60 investigators were sent over to the Louvre shortly after noon. They closed the museum and slowly let out the visitors. They then continued the search. It was finally determined that it was true— the Mona Lisa had been stolen. The Louvre was closed for an entire week to aid the investigation. When it was reopened, a line of people had come to solemnly stare at the empty space on the wall, where the Mona Lisa had once hung.

An anonymous visitor left a bouquet of flowers.1 "[Y]ou might as well pretend that one could steal the towers of the cathedral of Notre Dame," stated Théophile Homolle, museum director of the Louvre, approximately a year before the theft.2 (He was forced to resign soon after the robbery.) The Clues Unfortunately, there wasn't much evidence to go on. The most important discovery was found on the first day of the investigation. About an hour after the 60 investigators began searching the Louvre, they found the controversial plate of glass and Mona Lisa's frame lying in a staircase. The frame, an ancient one donated by Countess de Béarn two years prior, had not been damaged. Investigators and others speculated that the thief grabbed the painting off the wall, entered the stairwell, removed the painting from its frame, then somehow left the museum unnoticed. But when did all this take place? Investigators began to interview guards and workers to determine when the Mona Lisa went missing. One worker remembered having seen the painting around 7 o'clock on Monday morning (a day before it was discovered missing), but noticed it gone when he walked by the Salon Carré an hour later. He had assumed a museum official had moved it.

Further research discovered that the usual guard in the Salon Carré was home (one of his children had the measles) and his replacement admitted leaving his post for a few minutes around 8 o'clock to smoke a cigarette. All of this evidence pointed to the theft occurring somewhere between 7:00 and 8:30 on Monday morning. But on Mondays, the Louvre was closed for cleaning. So, was this an inside job? Approximately 800 people had access to the Salon Carré on Monday morning. Wandering throughout the museum were museum officials, guards, workmen, cleaners and photographers. Interviews with these people brought out very little. One person thought they had seen a stranger hanging out, but he was unable to match the stranger's face with photos at the police station. The investigators brought in Alphonse Bertillon, a famous fingerprint expert. He found a thumbprint on the Mona Lisa's frame, but he was unable to match it with any in his files. There was a scaffold against one side of the museum that was there to aid the installation of an elevator. This could have given access to a would-be thief to the museum.

Besides believing that the thief had to have at least some internal knowledge of the museum, there really wasn't much evidence. So, who dunnit? Prev Author(s): Cécile Scailliérez This portrait was doubtless started in Florence around 1503. It is thought to be of Lisa Gherardini, wife of a Florentine cloth merchant named Francesco del Giocondo - hence the alternative title, La Gioconda. However, Leonardo seems to have taken the completed portrait to France rather than giving it to the person who commissioned it. After his death, the painting entered François I's collection. Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco Giocondo The history of the Mona Lisa is shrouded in mystery. Among the aspects which remain unclear are the exact identity of the sitter, who commissioned the portrait, how long Leonardo worked on the painting, how long he kept it, and how it came to be in the French royal collection.

The portrait may have been painted to mark one of two events - either when Francesco del Giocondo and his wife bought their own house in 1503, or when their second son, Andrea, was born in December 1502 after the death of a daughter in 1499. The delicate dark veil that covers Mona Lisa's hair is sometimes considered a mourning veil. In fact, such veils were commonly worn as a mark of virtue. Her clothing is unremarkable. Neither the yellow sleeves of her gown, nor her pleated gown, nor the scarf delicately draped round her shoulders are signs of aristocratic status. A new artistic formula The Mona Lisa is the earliest Italian portrait to focus so closely on the sitter in a half-length portrait. The painting is generous enough in its dimensions to include the arms and hands without them touching the frame. The portrait is painted to a realistic scale in the highly structured space where it has the fullness of volume of a sculpture in the round. The figure is shown in half-length, from the head to the waist, sitting in a chair whose arm is resting on balusters.

She is resting her left arm on the arm of the chair, which is placed in front of a loggia, suggested by the parapet behind her and the two fragmentary columns framing the figure and forming a "window" looking out over the landscape. The perfection of this new artistic formula explains its immediate influence on Florentine and Lombard art of the early 16th century. Such aspects of the work as the three-quarter view of a figure against a landscape, the architectural setting, and the hands joined in the foreground were already extant in Flemish portraiture of the second half of the 15th century, particularly in the works of Hans Memling. However, the spacial coherence, the atmospheric illusionism, the monumentality, and the sheer equilibrium of the work were all new. In fact, these aspects were also new to Leonardo's work, as none of his earlier portraits display such controlled majesty. An emblematic smile The Mona Lisa's famous smile represents the sitter in the same way that the juniper branches represent Ginevra Benci and the ermine represents Cecilia Gallerani in their portraits, in Washington and Krakow respectively.

It is a visual representation of the idea of happiness suggested by the word "gioconda" in Italian. Leonardo made this notion of happiness the central motif of the portrait: it is this notion which makes the work such an ideal. The nature of the landscape also plays a role. The middle distance, on the same level as the sitter's chest, is in warm colors. Men live in this space: there is a winding road and a bridge. This space represents the transition between the space of the sitter and the far distance, where the landscape becomes a wild and uninhabited space of rocks and water which stretches to the horizon, which Leonardo has cleverly drawn at the level of the sitter's eyes. Bibliography - ARASSE Daniel, Léonard de Vinci, Éditions Hazan, Paris,1997. - BEGUIN Sylvie (sous la dir. de), Musée du Louvre. Hommage à Léonard de Vinci, catalogue de l'exposition, Éditions des Musées nationaux, Paris, 1952.

- BEGUIN Sylvie, Léonard de Vinci au Louvre, Éditions de la Réunion des musées nationaux, Paris, 1983. - CLARK Kenneth, Léonard de Vinci, Éditions Le Livre de poche, Paris, 1967. - CHASTEL André, L'illustre incomprise. Mona Lisa, collection "Art et Écrivain", Éditions Gallimard, Paris, 1988. - CHASTEL André, Léonard de Vinci, Traité de la peinture, Éditions Calmann-Lévy, Paris, 2003. - KEMP Martin, Leonardo Da Vinci : the marvelous Works of Nature and Man, Cambridge Mass. : Harvard University Press, 1981. - MARANI Pietro C., Léonard de Vinci, Éditions Gallimard-Electa, Paris, 1996. - SCALLIEREZ Cécile, La Joconde, collection "Solo", Éditions de la Réunion des musées nationaux, Paris, 2003, n°24.

- ZÖLLNER Frank, Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa, Das Portrât der Lisa del Giocondo, Legende und geschichte, Francfort, 1994. - ZÖLLNER Frank, NATHAN Johannes (sous la dir. de), Léonard de Vinci, 1452-1519 : tout l'oeuvre peint et graphique, Cologne, Londres, Paris, Éditions Taschen, 2003. Technical description Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci, known as LEONARDO DA VINCI (Vinci, 1452 - Amboise, 1519) Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo, known as the Mona Lisa (the Joconde in French) c. 1503–19 H. 0.77 m; W. 0.53 m Acquired by François I in 1518 INV. 779 A closer look at the Winged Victory of Samothrace New!

Rediscover a Hellenistic masterpiece in the company of documentary researcher Marianne Hamiaux and curator Ludovic Laugier from the Department of Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities. After its year-long conservation treatment, the Winged Victory of Samothrace is the subject of the latest issue in the Focus series, designed to shed new light on this extraordinary monument, which can now be viewed in 3D. View the feature A closer look at the Portrait of the Marquise de Pompadour Take a closer look at one of the best known and most beautiful pastel drawings in the Louvre: the portrait of the Marquise de Pompadour by Maurice-Quentin Delatour. Let the mistress of Louis XV be your introduction to the Age of Enlightenment... View the feature A closer look at Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss In the Michelangelo Gallery at the Louvre, the visitors crowd around this idyllic image of a loving couple: a winged man and a swooning woman in a voluptuous embrace, their lips about to join in a kiss. Who are these beings whom eighteenth-century sculptor Canova chose to immortalize in marble?

This multimedia feature invites you to take a closer look at this masterful composition as you listen to the story of Psyche and admire Canova’s virtuoso treatment of the marble. View the feature A closer look at the Seated Scribe Painted in bright colors and gazing expressively at the visitor, the Seated Scribe is one of the most famous statues in the Department of Egyptian Antiquities. Egyptologists think it is probably the portrait of a high-ranking Egyptian official living at the time of the great pyramids, yet its date and the exact identity of the model still remain a mystery. Find out more through this interactive multimedia study. Today in Met History: February 4 | The Metropolitan Museum of Art Today in Met History: February 4 Aleksandr Gelfand , Former Intern, Museum Archives Leonardo da Vinci (Italian, 1452–1519). Mona Lisa (Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo), ca. 1503–06. Oil on wood (poplar); 30 x 21 in. (77 x 53 cm).

Musée du Louvre, Paris On Monday, February 4, 1963, a unique visitor entered The Metropolitan Museum of Art and remained in the building for the next three and a half weeks. Over one million people clamored to see her during her stay at the Museum, and the press reported extensively on her visit. To the great pleasure of the Metropolitan and its visitors, the Mona Lisa—perhaps the best known painting in the world—had come to the Museum as a loan from the Louvre . In the spring of 1962, André Malraux, the French minister for cultural affairs, was on an official visit to Washington, DC, when First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy approached him with a proposal to display the Mona Lisa in the United States. Malraux was open to the suggestion, and by the end of the year, all of France was abuzz with the possible overseas trip of La Gioconda. The painting had left French soil only once before, in 1911, when a former Louvre employee named Vicenzo Peruggia stole the work and transported it to Italy.

Many in France opposed the loan on the grounds that a transatlantic journey would damage the painting; a group of curators at the Louvre threatened to resign if the painting were lent to the United States, and the newspaper Le Figaro printed an article asking the American people to refuse the loan. Offer of loan for the Mona Lisa. Office of the Secretary Records, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Archives Despite resistance from the French public, the Mona Lisa was nonetheless removed from the Louvre for shipment to the United States. The painting, housed in a specially constructed, temperature-controlled case within a fireproof and watertight container, was put aboard the ocean liner SS France. The container was affixed to a bedframe in a deluxe cabin and escorted by security guards and museum officials, who kept a twenty-four-hour vigil over the precious passenger. Though the ship was scheduled to arrive in New York, the painting's first stop in America was not to be the Metropolitan. Rather, the work was slated to go on display only at the National Gallery in Washington, DC. It was not until the Mona Lisa was already in transit that the Metropolitan received official confirmation that it would also be able to exhibit the painting.

On December 19, 1962, the SS France, accompanied by the United States Coast Guard, entered New York Harbor as though it were carrying a visiting head of state. The White House had announced that the painting would receive the level of Secret Service protection normally reserved for the president of the United States, and thus local, state, and federal security officials met the French visitor at the dock. Upon its arrival, the painting was transferred to an air-conditioned van for transport to the National Gallery in Washington. All traffic along the transport route was stopped, and the procession drove through red traffic lights the entire way to its destination. When the painting went on display at the National Gallery on January 8, 1963, the Metropolitan was already busily preparing to receive its important visitor. James J. Rorimer , the Museum's director, decided to exhibit the Mona Lisa in the Medieval Sculpture Hall , among the largest rooms in the Museum. While a small army of experts readied the gallery, the Portrait of a Young Woman by Lorenzo di Credi was used as a stand-in for the Mona Lisa.

The Medieval Sculpture Hall at The Metropolitan Museum of Art Lorenzo di Credi (Lorenzo d'Andrea d'Oderigo) (Italian, 1456/59–1536). Portrait of a Young Woman , ca. 1490–1500. Oil on wood; 23 1/8 x 15 3/4 in. (58.7 x 40 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Bequest of Richard De Wolfe Brixey, 1943 (43.86.5) When the painting finally arrived at the Metropolitan Museum on February 4, it was taken to a safe in one of the Western European Arts storerooms. It remained there under continuous observation until its official unveiling ceremony on February 6, when Mayor Robert Wagner officially welcomed the distinguished guest to New York. He said: Tonight, serving as the personal representative of the President of the United States, and on his behalf, I welcome to the City of New York one of the most beautiful tourists we are ever likely to have.

In behalf, too, of the eight million people of New York City, I bespeak the delight and excitement that her arrival has brought to us all. [1] Hervé Alphand, the French ambassador to the United States, elaborated on the mystery surrounding the painting: This painting has its personal legend. I shall not attempt to tell it to you in a few or in many words; great writers, lucid critics have tried and have acknowledged their defeat: we are dealing here with a mystery of human creativity, and that is doubtless why we keep turning to this enchanted face, questioning it from generation to generation. The fact is here, and indisputable. Mona Lisa is more than an extraordinary painting; she is the ideal woman and the ideal work of art. She continues to waken veneration and even hatred; when someone wants to make a scandal, to overturn the accepted rule of beauty, he attacks personally Mona Lisa; she received love letters, but also it is on her face that one pasted a moustache. [2] Cover of the Metropolitan Museum catalogue that accompanied the exhibition. Office of the Secretary Records, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Archives The following morning, a long line began to form outside the Museum.

The first person waiting behind the wooden barricades was a taxi driver from Brooklyn who got up at 4:30 a.m. and arrived at the Museum by 6:00 a.m., four hours before its scheduled opening time. Once the Museum opened, the line proceeded across the Great Hall, down the corridor to the right of the Great Hall staircase, through the Medieval Europe Gallery , and into the Medieval Sculpture Hall . Along this route, visitors could view explanatory panels containing close-up images of Mona Lisa's eyes, mouth, and hands, as well as photographs of the landscape found in the painting. Line of people waiting in front of the Museum to see the Mona Lisa When visitors finally arrived in the Medieval Sculpture Hall, La Gioconda was ready to greet them. The painting was mounted over a red velvet curtain in the center gate of the Spanish choir screen bisecting the hall. It was protected by bulletproof glass, flanked by two guards, and watched by detectives from behind. Visitors were allowed only a brief chance to view the painting in order to make room for the people behind them. Once a visitor had seen the work, he or she would be ushered out of the building through an exit to the Museum's parking lot.

A few hardy individuals reportedly got back in line to repeat the process. Over the next few weeks, the public's reactions to the Mona Lisa surprised Museum staff standing near the painting. One woman curtsied to the painting before exiting the hall. An associate curator, who offered to hold a man's small child so that he could view the painting unencumbered, was surprised when the man replied, "I want him to see it and then when he grows up I can tell him he saw it." [3] The freezing temperatures outside made it all the more surprising that so many people patiently waited their turn to see the painting. On a particularly cold day, seventy young girls arrived from New Jersey and got in line at 10:00 a.m. They waited in line for over three hours before finally making their way inside the Museum. The shock of entering a warm building after being in the cold for such a long time caused many of them to faint. After recovering, the girls returned to their places in line and eventually saw the Mona Lisa. [4] On one record-breaking day, 63,675 people were able to see the painting.

To accommodate the number of schoolchildren coming to see the Mona Lisa, the Museum began to allow school groups to enter the building at 9:00 a.m. On average, the Metropolitan managed to let approximately five hundred children through before the official opening time an hour later. Elevated view facing west with people waiting in line to see the Mona Lisa On March 4, the Museum's exhibition of the painting came to a close, and three days later, on March 7, the Mona Lisa was put aboard the SS United States for its trip back to France. On March 12, the painting was safely back in the Louvre, where it has remained ever since.

Earlier in the year, when criticized for his decision to lend the Mona Lisa to the United States, Malraux said, "When upon my return [to France] some peevish spirits will ask me on the rostrum, 'Why was the "Mona Lisa" lent to the United States?' I shall answer: 'because no other nation would have received her like the United States.'" [5] The enthusiastic reception of the Mona Lisa in this country—by the United States government, the Metropolitan Museum, and the crowds who viewed the painting—certainly justifies his sentiments. Return receipt for the Mona Lisa. Office of the Secretary Records, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Archives Footnotes [1] Excerpt from the February 6, 1963, opening ceremony speeches, Mona Lisa Loan Files, Office of the Secretary Records, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Archives. Mona Lisa: The theft that created a legend - CNN.com Mona Lisa: The theft that created a legend By Sheena McKenzie, for CNN Updated 7:26 AM ET, Tue November 19, 2013 Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds.

Photos: 100th anniversary: The Mona Lisa is recovered Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago – More than 100 years ago, in August 1911, the Mona Lisa was stolen off the walls of the Louvre in Paris. The famous Leonardo da Vinci painting wasn't recovered until two years later, in December 1913. Hide Caption 1 of 22 Photos: 100th anniversary: The Mona Lisa is recovered Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago – Vincenzo Peruggia, the Italian handyman who stole the Mona Lisa, had trouble with the law before -- once for attempting to rob a prostitute and once for carrying a gun during a fistfight. Hide Caption 2 of 22 Photos: 100th anniversary: The Mona Lisa is recovered Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago – This reconstruction shows how Peruggia perpetrated the greatest art theft of the 20th century. After hiding in a closet overnight, he simply removed the painting, hid it under his smock and walked out with it under his arm.

Hide Caption 3 of 22 Photos: 100th anniversary: The Mona Lisa is recovered Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago – Peruggia encountered a locked door as he tried to leave through the Visconti courtyard. He desperately removed the doorknob, to no avail. Then a plumber who was passing by opened the door with a key. Hide Caption 4 of 22 Photos: 100th anniversary: The Mona Lisa is recovered Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago – It would be 24 hours before someone noticed the painting was missing. Artwork was often removed to be photographed or cleaned. Hide Caption 5 of 22 Photos: 100th anniversary: The Mona Lisa is recovered Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago – Achille Beltrame illustrated the theft in September 1911.

"The Louvre had over 400 rooms but only 200 guards and even fewer on duty overnight," said Noah Charney, professor of art history and author of "The Thefts of the Mona Lisa." "There were basically no alarms in play." Hide Caption 6 of 22 Photos: 100th anniversary: The Mona Lisa is recovered Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago – A man in Paris offers the score of "Did you? Mona Lisa!!" It was a satirical song about the theft. Hide Caption 7 of 22 Photos: 100th anniversary: The Mona Lisa is recovered Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago – Seen here is Peruggia's apartment in Paris, where Peruggia hid the Mona Lisa in a false bottom of a wooden trunk. Hide Caption 8 of 22 Photos: 100th anniversary: The Mona Lisa is recovered Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago – Police ransacked Peruggia's apartment in 1911 looking for the stolen painting. They didn't find it.

Hide Caption 9 of 22 Photos: 100th anniversary: The Mona Lisa is recovered Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago – The poet Guillaume Apollinaire was arrested September 7, 1911, and jailed on suspicion of the Mona Lisa's theft. He was released five days later because prosecutors didn't have the evidence to build a case. Hide Caption 10 of 22 Photos: 100th anniversary: The Mona Lisa is recovered Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago – Spanish painter Pablo Picasso was also questioned by police after buying two stone statues from Apollinaire's secretary, Josephe-Honoré Géry Pieret. Once Pieret admitted to stealing the statues from the Louvre in 1907, Apollinaire and Picasso returned them. Hide Caption 11 of 22 Photos: 100th anniversary: The Mona Lisa is recovered Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago – The Titanic sank on April 14, 1912, and focus shifted away from the failed investigation of the Mona Lisa theft. The trail had gone cold, and it was reported that the painting had been shipped out of France.

Hide Caption 12 of 22 Photos: 100th anniversary: The Mona Lisa is recovered Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago – The Hotel Tripoli-Italia, now called the Hotel La Gioconda, is where Peruggia showed the stolen painting to art dealer Alfredo Geri and Uffizi Gallery director Giovanni Poggi in Florence, Italy, on December 10, 1913. Peruggia, who claimed to have stolen the Mona Lisa to return her to her native Italy, was arrested and eventually sentenced to jail. Hide Caption 13 of 22 Photos: 100th anniversary: The Mona Lisa is recovered Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago – After Peruggia's arrest, the Mona Lisa was displayed for a week in the Uffizi. Hide Caption 14 of 22 Photos: 100th anniversary: The Mona Lisa is recovered Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago – The painting was displayed throughout Italy before it was returned to the Louvre in January 1914.

Hide Caption 15 of 22 Photos: 100th anniversary: The Mona Lisa is recovered Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago – Guards and a barrier of benches surround the Mona Lisa at the Museum of the Offices of Florence in 1913. Hide Caption 16 of 22 Photos: 100th anniversary: The Mona Lisa is recovered Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago – This drawing, on the December 28, 1913, issue of Le Petit Journal, shows Da Vinci showing the Mona Lisa to King Francois I. Below that are drawings of the painting's theft and recovery. Hide Caption Photos: 100th anniversary: The Mona Lisa is recovered Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago – Peruggia appears in a Florence courtroom in June 1914. Hide Caption 18 of 22 Photos: 100th anniversary: The Mona Lisa is recovered Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago – After being found guilty, Peruggia served seven months in jail.

Hide Caption 19 of 22 Photos: 100th anniversary: The Mona Lisa is recovered Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago – Two men carry the Mona Lisa back to the Louvre in January 1914. Hide Caption 20 of 22 Photos: 100th anniversary: The Mona Lisa is recovered Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago – The Orens caricature "The return of the Mona Lisa" refers to the theft and recovery of the famous painting. Hide Caption 21 of 22 Photos: 100th anniversary: The Mona Lisa is recovered Mona Lisa recovered 100 years ago – The Mona Lisa appears in the Louvre in 1929. Today, she is the jewel in the museum's crown, helping attract millions of visitors each year. Hide Caption

Question: In what museum would you find the Mona Lisa?
Answer: The Louvre