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The theft that created a myth: the "Mona Lisa", from forgotten masterpiece to global icon
Before 1911, the Mona Lisa was a masterpiece admired by few connoisseurs, kept in the Louvre without any particular security measures. Everything changed on 21 August of that year, when Vincenzo Peruggia, an Italian painter, detached it from the wall and carried it away, convinced he was returning it to its homeland. For two years, the painting remained hidden in a suitcase under his bed, while the whole world talked about the empty space it had left in the Louvre, fuelling an unprecedented media frenzy. When it was finally recovered and returned, after a triumphant tour of Italy, the painting was no longer just a portrait: it had become a global myth. Leonardo's genius, with his use of sfumato and that enigmatic smile, had already made the work an enigma; the theft made it immortal. Today, the Mona Lisa is a universal symbol, a mirror in which every era projects its own questions and dreams.
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