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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 investigation is a Préfecture embarrassment followed by an Italian authentication.
Steps below are what officials did after the wall was empty, not how the panel left.
Agencies
- Préfecture de police de Paris — Lead French investigation from 22 August 1911, including the Apollinaire dead end.
- Musée du Louvre — Victim institution; discovered the gap, later received the panel back.
- Uffizi Gallery / Giovanni Poggi — Authenticated the painting in Florence in December 1913.
- Florentine court and police — Arrested Peruggia, tried him and held the panel until the return to Paris.
What followed
- Record the empty wall
On 22 August 1911 the Louvre and police documented a missing Leonardo and alerted the press.
- Question staff and celebrities
Museum workers were examined. Apollinaire's arrest and Picasso's questioning showed the dragnet's celebrity bias.
- Circulate reproductions
Newspapers and police notices made the face a wanted image — useful for recognition, decisive for later fame.
- Receive the Florence offer
Geri's contact and Poggi's examination in late 1913 turned a rumour into an object in official hands.
- Arrest and authenticate
Peruggia was arrested. The panel was matched to the Louvre's picture.
- Return and convict
January 1914 brought the painting home. A Florence court convicted the thief on a short term.
Turning points
- The 22 August discovery — A Monday gap became a continental story before anyone had a suspect who would last.
- Clearing Apollinaire — The modernist panic ended without a painter in the dock for the portrait.
- Geri writes the Uffizi — A dealer's caution, not a Paris raid, recovered the object.
After the fact, Paris searched famous names and Florence recovered a panel. The file closed in 1914.
Public-record encyclopedia. Not legal advice. Not a how-to. Graphic detail is withheld. Wars belong in a separate atlas.