Back to today’s briefing

Story perspectives

Today in History: Mona Lisa stolen, employee caught after two years

8/21/2026

30 2

Summary

Story summary

On 21 August 1911, Italian glazier Pietro Vincenzo Peruggia slipped into Paris’s Louvre and stole Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, hiding the portrait under his coat. He kept the work in his Paris apartment for over two years before French authorities recovered it in 1913, restoring the world’s most famous painting to the museum.

1 of 1

Story summary

On 21 August 1911, Italian glazier Pietro Vincenzo Peruggia slipped into Paris’s Louvre and stole Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, hiding the portrait under his coat. He kept the work in his Paris apartment for over two years before French authorities recovered it in 1913, restoring the world’s most famous painting to the museum.