--- title: "Mona Lisa Timeline: Theft, Fame and Glass | VitaeMap" url: https://www.vitaemap.com/v/mona-lisa-timeline-theft-fame-and-glass description: "The Mona Lisa’s history from Florence to today: the 1911 theft, Duchamp, Warhol, stones and soup. How fame put a masterpiece behind glass." lang: fr --- Image: Mona Lisa: Respect, Fame, and Safe Behind Glass (https://pqlpsijegnkpxlcwwlgd.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/lifemap-covers/1ba5e4e5-9882-487c-9226-16d7394bb44b/1793743498451.jpg) 19 events · Created on November 3, 2026 # Mona Lisa: Respect, Fame, and Safe Behind Glass From Leonardo da Vinci’s Florence in 1503 to the bulletproof glass of the Louvre, follow the extraordinary fate of the Mona Lisa. Discover how a Renaissance portrait became the ultimate icon of world art: through royal ownership, the sensational theft of 1911, Dada and Pop Art appropriations, international tours and the constant challenges of high security. © Mapbox: https://www.mapbox.com/about/maps © OpenStreetMap: https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright/ Improve this map: https://apps.mapbox.com/feedback/?owner=mapbox&id=satellite-streets-v12&access_token=pk.eyJ1IjoibmR1bG1hbiIsImEiOiJjbWQ1OHI0dGcwaXdkMmxxcG52b2J5a2VvIn0.wNGHEXLs-GHNeHPbwUZRWg#/11.28/43.8/4 © Maxar: https://www.maxar.com/ Mapbox homepage: https://www.mapbox.com/ 1 October 1503 Milestone ### Florence: Leonardo works on the portrait of Lisa del Giocondo Basilica of the Santissima Annunziata, Piazza della Santissima Annunziata, Florence, Italy A marginal note in a book, written by **Agostino Vespucci** in **October 1503** and rediscovered in Heidelberg in 2005, proves that **Leonardo da Vinci** was working on a portrait of **Lisa del Giocondo** at that time. The painting was not finished in one season: Leonardo would retouch it for years, perhaps until 1516-1517. 2 2 May 1519 Transition ### Death of Leonardo in Amboise: the painting enters the royal collections Château du Clos Lucé, 2 rue du Clos Lucé, Amboise, France Invited by **Francis I** in 1516, Leonardo brought the _Mona Lisa_ with him, according to tradition. He died at the **Clos Lucé** on May 2, 1519. The painting then entered the French royal collections, where it would remain for three centuries before becoming a national asset. 3 1797 Transition ### The Louvre exhibits it permanently: a national asset Louvre Museum, rue de Rivoli, Paris, France Since **1797**, the _Mona Lisa_ has been on permanent display at the **Louvre**. The painting's status changed: it no longer belonged to the king, but to the nation. A brief stay in **Napoleon's bedroom** at the Tuileries did nothing to alter its return to the museum. 4 1859 - 1869 Recognition ### The Romantics turn it into a myth In the mid-19th century, the _Mona Lisa_ ceased to be just one painting among many and became a **literary myth**. - **1859**: Théophile Gautier described her as a "sphinx of beauty" with a mysterious smile - **1869**: Walter Pater turned her into an almost immemorial figure, older than the rocks among which she sits Respect was earned. The general public was still to follow. 5 22 Aug 1911 Turning Point ### The Theft of the Mona Lisa: The Empty Wall of the Salon Carré Salon Carré, Louvre Museum, rue de Rivoli, Paris, France On **August 22, 1911**, the painter **Louis Béroud** arrived at the Salon Carré to copy the _Mona Lisa_ and found only the wall. The rooms were evacuated, the doors closed. - The thief, **Vincenzo Peruggia**, was a former employee of the museum - About sixty police officers and the criminologist **Alphonse Bertillon** found nothing - The scandal targeted the Louvre's negligence and made headlines around the world The painting, previously known mainly to art enthusiasts, became the most famous work in the world. 6 7 Sept 1911 Challenge ### The Investigation Goes Astray: Apollinaire Imprisoned, Picasso Questioned La Santé Prison, 42 rue de la Santé, Paris, France The police follow a secondary lead: **Iberian statuettes** stolen from the Louvre by **Géry Pieret**, Apollinaire's former secretary. **Guillaume Apollinaire** is arrested on **September 7, 1911**, and spends about a week at La Santé prison. **Picasso**, who had purchased one of the statuettes, is interrogated. Both are eventually cleared of the Mona Lisa case. When everyone is a suspect, it means the artwork has become larger than the museum itself. 7 December 1913 - January 1914 Milestone ### Found in Florence, Back at the Louvre Uffizi Gallery, Piazzale degli Uffizi 6, Florence, Italy Two years after the theft, **Peruggia** offers the painting to the antique dealer **Alfredo Geri** in Florence. Geri alerts the director of the Uffizi, **Giovanni Poggi**, who confirms that it is indeed the original. The thief is arrested, the painting is exhibited in Italy, and then returns to the Louvre on **January 4, 1914**, twenty-eight months after its disappearance. Its absence has transformed it: it returns as an icon. 8 March 1920 Turning Point ### Duchamp draws a mustache on her: L.H.O.O.Q. Avenue Charles-Floquet, Paris 7e, Paris, France In the autumn of 1919, **Marcel Duchamp**, then staying at Picabia's home in Paris, draws a **mustache** and a **goatee** on a postcard of the _Mona Lisa_. He titles it **L.H.O.O.Q.**, the French pronunciation of which is intentionally ribald. The image appears in **March 1920** in the 12th issue of the magazine _391_. The world's most famous painting becomes a material: it can be subverted, therefore it is alive. The gesture would set a precedent: Dalí would follow suit in a self-portrait as the Mona Lisa, a few decades later. 9 25 Jun 1932 Legend ### The Valfierno Legend: Six Copies and a Fake Plot Curtis Publishing Company Building, Sixth and Walnut Streets, Philadelphia, United States In the _Saturday Evening Post_ of **June 25, 1932**, **Karl Decker** tells the story allegedly shared with him by a certain **Eduardo de Valfierno**: the 1911 theft was merely a means to sell **six copies** to buyers convinced they possessed the original. The story is compelling, but nothing corroborates it: no copies have ever been found, details are inaccurate, and Valfierno's very existence is not established. Proof that fame also attracts fables. 10 28 Aug 1939 Challenge ### 1939 Evacuation: The First Safeguarding On the eve of the war, the painting left the Louvre on **August 28, 1939**. It was successively hidden in **Amboise**, at the **Loc-Dieu** Abbey, at the **Château de Chambord**, and then at the **Ingres Museum in Montauban**. The _Mona Lisa_ thus escaped Nazi looting. It was the first time it was hidden to protect it from its own value. 11 12 Jun 1950 Recognition ### Nat King Cole sings "Mona Lisa" Capitol Studios, 5515 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, United States The song **"Mona Lisa"**, from the film _Captain Carey, U.S.A._ (1949), was recorded by **Nat King Cole** on March 11, 1950, and released on **June 12, 1950**. It remained **five weeks** at number one on the Billboard chart and the song won the Oscar. The painting was no longer just seen: it was sung all over the world. 12 30 Dec 1956 Challenge ### The 1956 Stone: Bulletproof Glass Becomes Essential On **December 30, 1956**, **Ugo Ungaza Villegas**, a Bolivian man, threw a stone at the painting. The glass shattered and a **pigment chip** broke off near the left elbow. The painting was subsequently restored. Since then, **bulletproof glass** has protected the work. This was the first moment when fame came at a physical cost. 13 9 Jan 1963 - 3 Feb 1963 Milestone ### Washington 1963: The American Tour Begins National Gallery of Art, Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, United States In late December 1962, the _Mona Lisa_ left France aboard the ocean liner **SS France**. It was exhibited at the **National Gallery of Art** from **January 9 to February 3, 1963**, in the center of the West Sculpture Hall, on a panel draped in red velvet. - **518,525 visitors** in less than a month - Insurance value estimated at **$100 million**, a Guinness World Record - No insurance policy taken out: the sum was invested in security For the first time, a painting had a price that could not be paid. 14 7 Feb 1963 - 1 Mar 1963 Recognition ### New York 1963: over a million visitors in one month The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Avenue, New York, United States On **February 7, 1963**, the _Mona Lisa_ was presented to the public at **The Metropolitan Museum of Art**. Over **one million visitors** came to see it in a single month, according to the museum. It was the height of fame: people came to see an event rather than just a painting. 15 March 1963 Recognition ### Warhol Multiplies It: Thirty Are Better than One Using images from the **Metropolitan Museum** brochure, **Andy Warhol** silkscreened the _Mona Lisa_ in a grid of thirty: **Thirty Are Better than One**. The repetition transforms it almost into wallpaper. Following Duchamp, Warhol treats it as a mass-market product. 16 20 Apr 1974 - 10 Jun 1974 Challenge ### Tokyo 1974: Red Paint on the Showcase Tokyo National Museum, 13-9 Uenokōen, Taitō, Tokyo, Japan The _Mona Lisa_ is exhibited at the **Tokyo National Museum** from **April 20 to June 10, 1974**, before traveling to Moscow. In the early days (April 20 or 21, depending on sources), a young disabled woman sprays **red paint** on the glass to protest the museum's lack of accessibility. Its fame has turned it into a platform: it is attacked to draw attention to other causes. 17 6 Apr 2005 Transition ### The Salle des États: A Climate-Controlled Vault Salle des États, Louvre Museum, rue de Rivoli, Paris, France After maintenance work and analysis, the _Mona Lisa_ was transferred on **April 6, 2005**, to the **Salle des États**, in a custom-made, **climate-controlled** enclosure behind **bulletproof glass**. - Approximately **10.2 million** people see it every year (2019 data) - After the queue, about **30 seconds** remain to stand before the painting Safe and sound, but further and further away. 18 2 Aug 2009 - 28 Jan 2024 Challenge ### The Era of Attacks: Cup, Cake, Soup Behind its glass, the _Mona Lisa_ becomes the ideal target for protest. - **August 2, 2009**: a Russian woman throws a ceramic cup at the display case - **May 29, 2022**: a man disguised as an elderly lady in a wheelchair smears a cake, in the name of the climate - **January 28, 2024**: two activists from **Riposte Alimentaire** throw pumpkin soup, the room is evacuated The painting is never touched. It has become a medium for messages, protected by what conceals it. 19 28 Jan 2025 - 1 May 2026 Transition ### A room of her own: from the announcement to the choice of architects In front of the painting, on **January 28, 2025**, **Emmanuel Macron** launched the Louvre's **Nouvelle Renaissance** project. - A **new entrance**, on the side of the Perrault Colonnade - A **dedicated room** for the Mona Lisa, with independent access and a specific ticket - New galleries under the Cour Carrée, for works announced to last until **2031** In **May 2026**, a jury selected the firms **Studios Architecture** and **Selldorf Architects**. The project plans for a **dedicated path for the Mona Lisa**, with no opening schedule announced to date. Respect, glory, then showcase: the next step would be a journey where she would be alone with her visitors. ## Create your own VitaeMap Tell your story in an interactive and visual way ## Structured data ```json [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "SoftwareApplication", "name": "VitaeMap", "url": "https://www.vitaemap.com/", "applicationCategory": "LifestyleApplication", "applicationSubCategory": "Interactive map and timeline storytelling", "operatingSystem": "Web browser", "description": "VitaeMap is a web application to tell life stories and journeys through interactive geographic maps, timelines, images, charts and more, then share them publicly or privately.", "featureList": [ "Interactive geographic map (Mapbox)", "Chronological timeline", "Image galleries and patchwork", "Analytical charts (radar, balance, duel, wheel)", "3D journey and trek visualizations", "Multilingual VitaeMaps" ], "inLanguage": [ "fr", "en" ], "offers": { "@type": "Offer", "price": "0", "priceCurrency": "EUR", "description": "Free plan available, Premium from 3.49 EUR/month" }, "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "VitaeMap", "url": "https://www.vitaemap.com/" } }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "CreativeWorkSeries", "name": "VitaeMaps", "url": "https://www.vitaemap.com/explore", "description": "A series of interactive VitaeMaps: life stories, historical journeys, places and themes told through maps, timelines, images and charts.", "inLanguage": [ "fr", "en" ], "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "VitaeMap", "url": "https://www.vitaemap.com/" } }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Article", "headline": "Mona Lisa Timeline: Theft, Fame and Glass | VitaeMap", "description": "The Mona Lisa’s history from Florence to today: the 1911 theft, Duchamp, Warhol, stones and soup. 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