By [Author Name]
An Italian handyman named , who had helped build the painting's protective glass case, simply hid in a broom closet overnight. When the museum closed on Monday, he emerged, took the painting off the wall, hid it under his smock, and walked out the door. Monalisa
Why? Because she is a mirror. We project our own neuroses, desires, and questions onto her serene face. We want to know what she is thinking. But the genius of Leonardo da Vinci is that he painted someone who is thinking. She is not a doll. She is a presence. By [Author Name] An Italian handyman named ,
The world didn't notice for 24 hours.
For two years, the Monalisa sat in a false-bottomed trunk in Peruggia's Parisian apartment. He believed he was a patriot. He argued that Napoleon had stolen the painting, and he was returning it to Italy. When he finally tried to sell it to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence in 1913, he was arrested. Because she is a mirror