How the Mona Lisa Became Famous

The Mona Lisa is one of the most famous and recognizable paintings in the world, but that may never have happened if it weren’t for one particular event.

The day was August 21, 1911, and the art museum in Paris, the Louvre, was closed for visitors, as it usually was on Mondays. During the morning of that day, Vincenzo Perugia and two brothers, Vincenzo Lancelotti and Michele Lancelotti, came walking out of the Louvre. They were posing as construction workers, and Perugia was carrying something with him concealed under a jacket. It was the Mona Lisa.

The three men had arrived at the Louvre the previous afternoon on a Sunday and hid out in a small storage area near the Salon Carre, one of the museum galleries. When Monday morning came around, the men put on white clothes used by workmen. They went into the Salon Carre gallery and removed a painting from its frame — the Mona Lisa. Perugia put it under his coat, and the men escaped out a back stairwell and exited the building. A plumber passing by even unlocked the backdoor for Perugia, who discovered that the door was locked.

A full 26 hours would pass before anyone would even realize the painting had been stolen. Security during those times at the museum was very light. About 200 guards were tasked with securing an area with a collection of approximately 225,000 pieces. There were also many…