The history of theft from the Louvre Museum; From Mona Lisa to royal jewels (+recent robbery infographic)

According to National Geographic; In less than four minutes, Napoleon’s jewels were stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris, a reminder of the museum’s eventful history.

The theft happened while the museum was open to visitors. Among the stolen items, a collection of jewelry belonging to the French royal family can be seen; Including the emerald necklace and earrings that Napoleon gave to his second wife Marielouie on his wedding day. Now the question is how masked men were able to escape through the security measures of the Louvre and steal priceless works from one of the most important cultural institutions in the world.

But this is not the first time. The Louvre Museum has long witnessed astonishing break-ins and thefts; Despite the fact that it was built to protect the cultural heritage of the French nation after the bloody revolution.

Although the Louvre Palace dates back to the 13th century, the museum was founded during the French Revolution; A time when the egalitarianism wavered in both politics and culture. In 1792, angry rebels stormed the royal residences of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette and declared a republic. Suddenly, the kingdom’s entire art collection became the property of the new government—and threatened by looters bent on destroying any sign of royalty.

Since then, the Louvre’s mission has been to preserve national treasures amid the turmoil of the Revolution and display the treasures of newly democratic France. But the temptation to steal from these treasures always remained, and a long list of thefts and security lapses was recorded over the centuries—many of them in broad daylight.

The shocking theft of the Mona Lisa took place on the morning of August 11, 1911. At that time, the painting was not very famous. Vincenzo Peruggia, an Italian immigrant and former museum worker who was active in making frames, entered the Louvre wearing his former work clothes. Without any hindrance, he took the painting from the wall and hid it under his clothes.

No one noticed the missing work for more than 24 hours. Finally, a painter who came to work in the salon noticed that only the empty hooks of the frame for the Mona Lisa remained on the wall – a frame that Perugia himself probably made.

Extensive research was inconclusive and even Pablo Picasso’s feet were mentioned. Although he was innocent, it was revealed that he had previously bought two ancient statues stolen from the Louvre and handed them over to the police during this case.

Perugia was arrested in 1913 while trying to sell the painting in Italy. He claimed that he did it out of patriotism to bring Da Vinci’s work back to Italy. But this incident made the name of Mona Lisa world famous forever.

With the occupation of France in 1940, the museum’s works were in great danger. But the director of the Louvre, Jacques Jojart, moved more than 1,800 wooden boxes of valuable works to the countryside before the fall of Paris and saved a large part of the treasure. When the Nazis entered Paris, the museum was almost empty.

However, some important works such as the Immaculate Conception painting by Bartolome Morevio were gifted to the Spanish fascist government in 1941. The Nazis also looted numerous works from French citizens and displayed them in the empty halls of the Louvre.