The theft of the Mona Lisa
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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On August 21, 1911 the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre by employee Vincenzo Peruggia. He was caught after two years. It is perhaps the most famous art theft case in history.
After the theft, the museum was closed for one week, to aid investigations. When the museum re-opened, "thousands of Parisians filed through the Salon Carré to stare at the vacant place on the wall"[1].
On 7 September 1911, police arrested and jailed Guillaume Apollinaire on suspicion of aiding and abetting the theft of the Mona Lisa and a number of Egyptian statuettes from the Louvre, but released him a week later. These thefts were committed by Vincenzo Peruggia, born in Italy, to whom Apollinaire gave shelter, and Apollinaire voluntarily surrendered a number of stolen statuettes left behind by him. Apollinaire implicated his friend Pablo Picasso, who was also brought in for questioning in the theft of the Mona Lisa, but he was also exonerated.
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