Empty-wall reports, 22 August 1911
Press
Paris papers and police notices fix the discovery date and the Salon Carré location. They are the opening exhibit.
Darker cells mean a higher score for this topic on that metric.
Notoriety92
Mystery15
Scale50
Evidence80
Legal impact40
Culture90
LessMore
Last reviewed Sources & creditsMedia creditsMethodology
Quick answers
When was the Mona Lisa stolen?
On 21 August 1911, from the Salon Carré of the Louvre in Paris. The empty wall was noticed on 22 August. The painting was missing for twenty-eight months.
Who took it?
Vincenzo Peruggia, an Italian-born former Louvre glazier and handyman. He was arrested in Florence in December 1913 after offering the panel through dealer Alfredo Geri. A Florence court convicted him.
When did the painting return?
It was authenticated in Florence in December 1913, shown briefly in Italy and returned to the Louvre in January 1914. It has remained in the French national collection since, now in the Salle des États.
Were Picasso and Apollinaire involved?
No. Apollinaire was arrested because of an earlier, separate Louvre theft of small Iberian sculptures by an acquaintance. Picasso was questioned. Both were cleared of the Mona Lisa. The episode is a documented false lead.
Why did Peruggia say he took it?
He offered a patriotic story: that the work belonged in Italy. Leonardo had brought the portrait to France himself, and it had long been in the French royal collection. The court treated a motive speech as a motive speech, not as title to the panel.
Did the theft make the Mona Lisa famous?
It made the face universally famous. Specialists already ranked the portrait high. Two years of newspaper reproductions and a triumphant 1914 return created the modern pilgrimage picture.
The object was recovered and matched. That is a stronger close than Gardner or Antwerp.
What is thinner is the exact list of any helpers — a side question that does not unpick the conviction.
Exhibits
Uffizi authentication, December 1913
Object
Poggi's examination and the Louvre's later confirmation identify the Florence panel as the missing Leonardo.
Geri correspondence
Document
The dealer's contact with the man offering the picture is the recovery path. It is a paper trail, not a vault tale.
Florence judgment
Court
Peruggia's conviction and short sentence are the legal close. Patriotic speeches did not become title.
Apollinaire file
Testimony
The poet's arrest and release document a famous false lead, useful as a caution, not as a second thief.
1914 return inventories
Document
Louvre receipt of the panel in January 1914 ends the missing-object half of the dossier.
How strong is the record?
Who took the panel92
Peruggia was convicted; the object was in his offer path.
Object recovered98
Authenticated in Florence and returned to the Louvre in January 1914.
Wider conspiracy25
Rumours of masterminds have not replaced the Florence dock.
Fame effect95
The mass celebrity of the smile is the best-documented cultural result.
Evidence returned a painting and convicted a man. The rest is celebrity history.
Public-record encyclopedia. Not legal advice. Not a how-to. Graphic detail is withheld. Wars belong in a separate atlas.