Interesting facts about Mona Lisa that will surprise you
[...]
● A heist helped cement its “masterpiece” status
Even though the Mona Lisa has always been popular in the art sphere, it hasn’t always been world-famous, but
everything changed in the summer of 1911 when the painting was stolen.
Thanks to massive reporting by the media, the Mona Lisa became a worldwide news sensation overnight.
Even those who barely had any interest in art followed the story of the masterpiece’s disappearance.
Gossips about the heist also surfaced, further cementing the Mona Lisa’s status as a household name. Even Pablo
Picasso was once accused of stealing the painting!
And when Mona Lisa was returned, everyone instantly flocked to the Louvre to see the famed da Vinci masterpiece.
● The public mourned when she was stolen
The heist made Mona Lisa so popular that the public mourned when she was gone.
After the painting was stolen, thousands immediately came to the Louvre Museum to stare at the blank wall where it
once hung. People also left countless notes, flowers, and other mementos to honor the missing painting.
Later, the New York Times would compare this public display of grief to the one seen after Princess Diana’s death in
1997.
● Painter Pablo Picasso was a prime suspect in this theft
One of the interesting Mona Lisa facts is that Pablo Picasso who was a famous painter at the time was initially
accused of stealing the painting.
In fact, he was the prime suspect and was taken in front of a judge together with his then-friend and French writer,
Guillaume Apollinaire.
How did all this come to be? Well, Guillaume Apollinaire’s former secretary, Honore-Joseph Géry Pieret testified that
he had previously stolen some art pieces from the Louvre and sold them to his “friends” and those friends happen to
be Pablo Picasso and Guillaume Apollinaire.
Of course, it didn’t seem far-fetched that the people who had initially bought stolen art from the Louvre could possibly
also have the Mona Lisa and that’s why they were prime suspects.
Two years later, the thief, an Italian handyman, Vincenzo Peruggia, was finally caught. [...]
Disponível em: https://dreamsinparis.com/facts-about-mona-lisa/. Acesso em: 27 set. 2023. Adaptado.