Why is the Mona Lisa called the Mona Lisa? The answer may surprise you.
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NOW ON YOUR LOCAL PBS STATION
The one-hour version of our film is airing on local PBS stations through 2030. Check your local listings or screen it now through the pbs.org app: https://www.pbs.org/show/mona-lisa-missing/ Watch the trailer! https://vimeo.com/201965064
The Mona Lisa Was Stolen?
More than 8 million people pass through the Louvre, most of them just to get a glimpse of the Mona Lisa. But how would they feel knowing...
10 "Alternative Facts" About Vincenzo Peruggia and the Theft of the Mona Lisa
Ever since the Mona Lisa was stolen on August 21, 1911, there have been myths and misconceptions about the theft and the man who stole...
What's So Funny About the Theft of the Mona Lisa?
The August 21, 1911 theft was so unexpected, so unimaginable that there was only one way the people of Paris were able to deal with it --...
Meet the Daughter of the Man Who Stole the Mona Lisa
From the moment I met Celestina Peruggia in 2008, I felt as if she was the little Italian grandmother I always wanted. She was kind and...
Was the Mona Lisa Stolen a Year Before She Was Stolen?
1910 Headlines claim the painting in the Louvre was an imitation On Saturday, July 23, 1910, the front page of The Washington Post...
Why Was It So Easy to Steal the Mona Lisa?
Peruggia basically took it off the wall and walked out with it in broad daylight On the day that Vincenzo Peruggia stole the Mona Lisa, how did he evade the CCTV and the alarm systems to snatch the painting out of its bullet-proof glass display case? Simple. It was 1911 and none of that existed. As the photo below shows, the Mona Lisa (arrow) was just another painting hanging on the wall of the Salon Carré in the Louvre. It wasn’t behind any special barrier and wasn’t subject
He Stole the Mona Lisa?
Meet the greatest thief you've never heard of. This is Vincenzo Peruggia, an Italian house painter from a town in northern Italy who lived and worked in Paris. What makes this rather dapper individual unique is that on August 21, 1911, he walked into the Louvre and walked out with Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece — the Mona Lisa. What’s even more mind-boggling is that he kept the painting in his one-room flat in Paris’ 10th arrondissement for nearly 2-1/2 years before bringing
The Story of the Film: A 50-Year-Long Obsession
In 1976, Joe Medeiros, an avid trivia buff, was shocked to uncover a piece of history he knew absolutely nothing about: the 1911 theft of the MONA LISA. Acting alone, an Italian immigrant house painter named VINCENZO PERUGGIA took the painting from The Louvre and kept her in his one-room apartment in Paris for over two years. Peruggia was never caught until he returned the Mona Lisa to Florence through an Italian art dealer, claiming that he stole the painting to return it to
