Was the Mona Lisa Stolen - Assignment Example

Was the Mona Lisa Stolen? Matthew S. Cochran 10/4/2009 Was the Mona Lisa Stolen? Introduction: The Mona Lisa was reportedly stolen on August22st 1911. The painting was actually stolen off the wall of Lourve, France on August 21st 1911. This was however only realized the next day as the crime was one which was very inconceivable and never expected. Discovery of the Theft: The Lourve has been known and been discussed in the past for the glass panes that have been put up as a mode of protection for the various important paintings. The glass has been discussed over the years for its reflectivity. The common response from both the public and press was how well the museum kept the glass clean and reflective. So much so that a painter, Louis Béroud, wanted to paint a French girl fixing her hair in the reflection of the pane of glass in front of The Mona Lisa1. Béroud on 22nd August 1911, went on to make the painting and when they reached the place where the Mona Lisa was displayed for almost five years before the painting went missing, between Correggio’s Mystical Marriage and Titian’s Allegory of Alfonso d’Avalos, the painting was missing and only the iron pegs remained there. It was then that Béroud contacted the security of the museum to check for the paining. Security first felt that the Mona Lisa was with the photographers, they checked to only realise it was not and neither was it in the entire museum at all. The museum contacted police to come in to check for the painting. After about sixty investigators completed their search, it was determined that the Mona Lisa had indeed been stolen2. The museum was closed for a week for the investigators to shearch for the painting. Once the museum was reopened, the visitors solemnly visited the empty wall where Mona Lisa was hung. One of the visitors left a bouquet of flowers with a note stating: "[Y]ou might as well pretend that one could steal the towers of the cathedral of Notre Dame," stated Théophile Homolle, museum director of the Louvre, approximately a year before the theft3. Clues to the Incident: The theft did not leave much evidences or clues. The investigators only found the frame of Mona Lisa and the reflective plates of glass in the stairway in the museum. Countess de Béarn, a major contributor to the museum, had donated the frame to the museum two year earlier and the frame had not been damaged. There have been several speculations of the thief having grabbed the painting off the wall, going in to the stairway and removing the painting from the frame4. Several inquires had been conducted and the security guards questioned. One of the workers remembered seeing the painting on Monday morning, however, it was gone an hour later. Assumptions had been made that the museum officials moved the painting. Further research also brought out the fact that the regular security guard on duty was off, as his children had measles and his replacement admitted leaving the position for a few minutes to smoke a cigarette. This narrowed the time of theft to be between 7:00 am and 8:30 am. The Museum had been closed on this day, however, a number of its cleaning staff remembered seeing a few strangers on the premises. The frame had several thumb prints, however, they were not a match to the files of the famous finger print expert Alphonse Bertillon5. Culprit for the Theft: There had been several assumptions and theories that developed about the theft. There were confusions, which included the French blaming the Germans called this a ploy to deflate and dishearten the country. The Germans blamed the French and referred to this as a method to distract the country from international concerns. Other theories that had been set down by the police believed the thieves were not politically inclined, however they did believe there was more than one thief and the main motive was to sabotage the discontent of the Lourve employees. However, this was not the only assumption6. It was also suspected that the theft was committed by a maniac. There were also considerations that the Mona Lisa, also referred to as La Gioconda, had been stolen by someone to make financial gains by blackmailing the Government. Other suspects were Lourve workers who aimed at revealing how bad the Lourve’s security systems were. The French had also arrested Guillaume Apollinaire, however, he was released in five days due to lack of evidence. The main reason for the doubting him was the fact that he had been stealing artifacts for quite sometime, however, there was no evidence of his involvement in the theft7. For almost two years after this incident the painting had still not been found. Thief’s Contact: It was not until in 1913 that Alfredo Geri had innocently placed advertisements in several Italian newspapers. He was looking for a good piece of art. It was one of the best openings for the thief to respond. Alfredo got a letter with a post box address which stated the sender was in possession of the stolen Mona Lisa and the letter was signed as Leonardo8. Geri immediately contacted Commendatore Giovanni Poggi the museum director of the Uffizi. They planned to write a letter in return, saying they needed to see the painting before a price could be offered. To this there was an immediate reply to meet at Paris to see the painting. Geri replied back refusing the trip to Paris, however, did make arrangements to meet Leonardo in Milan on December 22nd 19139. It was on December 10th, 1913 that an Italian man arrived at Geri’s sales office and introduced himself to be Leonardo Vincenzo. The initial quote from Leonardo was for half a million dollars, and he explained that the painting was stolen on special orders to restore what had been stolen from Italy by the Napoleons. They did agree to the price, however, it was clear that the director of Uffizi had to see the painting before it would be agreed to be hung back into the museum. Return of Mona Lisa: It was the next day that Geri and Poggi went over to Leonardo’s hotel room, where Leonardo pulled out a wooden trunk. Leonardo removed the Mona Lisa from a false bottom. Geri and Poggi saw the Lourve seal on the back of the painting and this confirmed that the painting was original10. Leonardo Vincenzo’s real name was revealed as Vincenzo Peruggia and he was arrested. The museum director took the painting away to check for originality. Leonardo did not have any plans of selling the painting his only goal was returning it to Italy. Conclusions: The actual story of the thief was much simpler than that had been theorised. Vincenzo was born in Italy and had worked in Lourve in 1908. Since he was still known by most of the people at the museum, he was able to walk through the security without any issues11. The plan was never to destroy the painting however it was more towards returning it to Italy. The painting received much acclamation from the public and presses alike once it was returned and displayed back at The Lourve on, December 30th 191312. References: McMullen, Roy. Mona Lisa: The Picture and the Myth. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1975 Pallanti, Giuseppe. Mona Lisa Revealed: The True Identity of Leonardos Model. First Trade Edition: Skira, 2006. Rosenberg, Jennifer. "The Mona Lisa Was Stolen!". About.com. 27th September 2009 . Scotti, R.A.. Vanished Smile: The Mysterious Theft of Mona Lisa. Paris: Knopf, 2009. Stickland, Carol. The Annotated Mona Lisa: A Crash Course in Art History from Prehistoric to Post-Modern . 2nd Edition: Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2007. Sunny, Mona Lisa Awakening (Monere: Children of the Moon, Book 1). Reprint edition: Berkley Publishers, 2008. Read More