It sounds like Vincenzo Peruggia could have gotten the idea from a Hollywood movie, but it’s actually the other way around. Hollywood scriptwriters got their ideas from Vincenzo. Pietro Vincenzo Antonio Peruggia was born on October 8, 1881, in Dumenza, Italy, about 50 miles north of Milan. Vincenzo was an amateur painter, art lover, and a proud Italian. Just as an animal lover’s dream job would be to work in a zoo, in 1908 Vincenzo got a job in a museum in Paris framing and reframing artwork. He was a glazier, a glass fitter. His skill as an amateur painter gave him a certain finesse in his work.
At about 7:00 on the morning of August 21, 1911, Vincenzo arrived at work as usual. Over his clothes he wore his white smock, the same as all other employees at the museum wore. On the surface, there was nothing to signify that this day would be any different than any other, but Vincenzo had a plan. While working at the museum, Vincenzo became obsessed with the idea of stealing one of the Italian paintings and returning it to Italy. He realized that no one would suspect him because he had worked at the museum for over four years. On that Monday morning, Vincenzo waited until the room was unoccupied, then put his plan into motion. He took the painting off the wall and carried it to a nearby stairway where he removed it from its frame. He hid the discarded frame among some student artworks which were sitting on the landing of the staircase. Vincenzo was unable to roll the painting up because the artist had painted it on a piece of wood. Vincenzo wrapped his white smock around the painting, tucked it under his arm, and walked out the same door that he had entered earlier that morning. When other employees noticed the empty spot on the wall where the painting had been hung, they notified the police. They ushered the visitors out with the ruse that a water pipe had burst.
Police searched the building and found the painting’s discarded frame. They questioned all of the museum’s permanent employees as well as temporary employees such as bricklayers, carpenters, plumbers, and glaziers. Police visited Vincenzo at his apartment and questioned him. When questioning the museum’s employees revealed no leads, investigators figured they had missed something and repeated the process. Once again, investigators visited Vincenzo’s apartment and questioned him, but they found no reason to suspect Vincenzo. Vincenzo gave them permission to search his apartment, which disarmed suspicion. Had investigators glanced inside a large trunk which sat just inches from them in the apartment, they would have found nothing incriminating. However, if they had noticed that the trunk had a false bottom, they would have solved the crime.
As per his plan to not raise suspicion, Vincenzo continued working at the museum for two more years. In 1913, Vincenzo left his job at the museum. He tried to sell the stolen painting to various dealers in London and Paris, and even offered it to a representative of American financier J.P. Morgan, none of which notified the authorities. On November 28, 1913, Vincenzo wrote a letter to art dealer Alfred Geri, owner of the Galleria d’Arte Moderna in Florence and offered to sell him the stolen painting. Alfred agreed to meet once Vincenzo was in Florence. Vincenzo took the trunk with its hidden cargo to Florence. On December 11, 1913, Alfred watched as Vincenzo removed the painting from the false bottom of the trunk. After inspecting the painting, Alfred and Vincenzo purportedly came to some agreement on price and Alfred left the room. Alfred immediately notified the police of the stolen painting and its hiding place. Acting on Alfred’s tip, police arrested Vincenzo and slid the painting out from its hiding place. The face in the painting seemed to almost smile as if happy to have been rescued.
During questioning, Vincenzo claimed he had no accomplices and explained that accomplices were not necessary. “I did not take the painting from a desire to gain from it,” he told authorities, “but wished to accomplish a good and holy work by returning to my country one of the many treasures stolen from it.” Vincenzo said he thought he should receive adequate compensation for returning the painting to Italy. He neglected to mention that he had tried to sell the painting to people in three other countries before offering it to a dealer in Italy.
Thus ended what some people have described as the greatest art theft of the 20th century. The painting that Vincenzo stole was certainly prominent in the art world, but the painting’s theft and eventual return took the painting to another level. For two years, people all around the world saw pictures of the painting and followed the investigation in newspapers. Before it was returned to France, the painting was exhibited in art galleries throughout Italy to jubilant crowds. When it was returned to France, the celebrations were even larger. Crowds viewed the painting in a sort of modern concert atmosphere with pushing and shoving and everyone vying for a better view. Little has changed in the past century. Throngs of people still visit that same museum, the Louvre, to see that same painting. Because of Vincenzo Peruggia’s theft, we can instantly produce a mental image of what is arguably the most famous painting in the world, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.
Sources:
1. The Baltimore Sun, August 23, 1911, p.13.
2. The Kansas City Star, August 22, 19011, p.4.
3. The Tampa Tribune, December 14, 1913, p.81.
4. St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 15, 1913, p.6.
5. St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 26, 1913, p.15.
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