What do you think of this fact?
Today, the Mona Lisa is the most famous painting in the world. Before 1911, it was well known, but nowhere near the superstar it is now. Then it was stolen.
A painting disappears
On August 21, 1911, the Italian handyman Vincenzo Perugia simply took the Mona Lisa off the wall at the Louvre in Paris and carried it out. According to Smithsonian Magazine, nobody noticed it was missing for about 26 hours.
When the theft was discovered, the uproar was huge. Newspapers around the world covered it, and the police investigated in every direction. According to Smithsonian, even the young painter Pablo Picasso was questioned.
People came to see the empty wall
The strangest part: when the Louvre reopened, people came to look at the gap where the Mona Lisa had hung. According to Smithsonian, the writer Franz Kafka was one of them.
The painting stayed missing for more than two years. It only resurfaced in Florence in December 1913, when Perugia tried to sell it there. He was arrested.
Bonus fact: According to NPR, Perugia was sentenced to just eight months in prison. He claimed to be a patriot and said the painting had been stolen from Italy by Napoleon.
When the Mona Lisa was back in the Louvre, she was more famous than ever. According to Smithsonian, more than 100,000 people came to see her in the first two days after her return.
The theft had turned a well-known painting into a legend. Her story had now been told in every newspaper, and everyone knew her face.
Today, the Mona Lisa hangs behind bulletproof glass, and thousands crowd in front of her every day. Part of her fame goes back to a man who simply tucked her under his arm.