Transcription
The Mona Lisa stolen from the Louvre. Today, I'm telling you a story that happened 115 years ago but echoes recent news. On August 21, 1911, the Mona Lisa, the most famous painting in the world, disappeared. Welcome to a new episode of Love French with. The story of the jewel theft at the Louvre a few weeks ago captivated you. Today, I'm going to tell you about the incredible theft of the Mona Lisa's paintings in that same museum. At the end of this video, I will also give you an update on the robbery that happened in October at the Louvre. Were the burglars arrested? Were any jewels recovered? Were some museum staff members involved? Or were there security flaws detected at the museum? I'll tell you everything at the end of this video. Of course, as usual, I'm providing you with a free vocabulary sheet that covers all the words we'll be discussing in this video. All you have to do is click on the link in the description.
It's August 21, 1911. During one of his rounds, a museum guard notices the disappearance of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa. However, its disappearance won't be reported until the next day. But why? Well, because the idea that the painting could have been stolen seemed far too crazy to him. So he simply thought that the artwork had been taken down by the museum's curators for maintenance or to take photographs. Yet, it had indeed disappeared. Between the Sainte-Catherine and Titian's Allegory, there is now only a gaping hole and four nails on the wall. Panic ensues, and the museum is evacuated. Nearly 70 inspectors are then sent to comb through the museum, meaning to search the entire museum thoroughly. But on a staircase leading to the Visconti courtyard, only the frame and the glass of the painting are found. The theft causes a shockwave. A large-scale investigation begins, and the news goes around the world. In 1911, the Mona Lisa is not yet the undisputed star she is today, but she is already beginning to enjoy a certain notoriety. So she is starting to be quite well-known, quite famous at the time.
During the investigation, the poet Guillaume Apollinaire and the painter Pablo Picasso, whom you most certainly know, will be questioned and even suspected. The former will even be imprisoned at La Santé, the Paris detention center. So a detention center is not the same as a prison. It's a place where one is imprisoned more temporarily, from September 7 to 11, 1911, in this context, before being cleared, before being absolved. But why were they worried in this affair? Well, to understand, we need to go back a few years. Géry Pieret, a Belgian friend and secretary of Guillaume Apollinaire, offers him antique statuettes, Phoenician statuettes. These statuettes, he pulls them out of thin air. We don't know exactly where he found them, where they came from. The latter will acquire them for a pittance, for almost nothing, for very little money, and he will himself resell them to his great friend Pablo Picasso. The painter would have even been inspired by them for his famous painting, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon.
When the Mona Lisa was stolen, the museum decided to conduct a global inventory to check if any other pieces were missing. And then, surprise, it wasn't one artwork that was missing, but over 300 artworks. And obviously, I'm not going to keep it a secret. Among the stolen pieces, there are, of course, these famous statuettes. When Guillaume Apollinaire discovered that he had harbored stolen items, he immediately informed his friend Pablo Picasso of the situation. The two artists then decided to return the statuettes to the editorial office of Paris Journal. This is a daily newspaper that no longer exists today. It is therefore in this context that they will be suspected of the Mona Lisa theft. The investigation will then stall for a long time, a very long time. For over 2 years, the Mona Lisa remains missing. She remains missing despite, of course, numerous false leads and media speculation, meaning media hypotheses.
The Mona Lisa will actually spend 2 years under a bed in a small Parisian room, not far from the museum. This bed belongs to Vincenzo Peruggia, an Italian immigrant. Fearing being caught, being apprehended, he preferred to keep the artwork well hidden. At the time of the theft, he was a glazier at the Louvre. He therefore knew the museum very well, as well as the schedules of the various workers. So, with great ease, he managed to steal the artwork, he took the artwork, he pilfered it, he simply unhooked it from the wall before removing the frame and the glass, which he abandoned on a staircase. And in a few seconds, the painting was under his smock. No one saw him, and no one suspected him. Well, until a beautiful morning in December 1913 in Florence.
Back in Italy, he will try to sell the Mona Lisa to a Florentine antique dealer. The latter will authenticate the artwork, will attest to the painting's authenticity, and will immediately notify the police. Arrested in his hotel room with the artwork, Peruggia will confess to the theft. He claims to have committed this theft out of patriotism, in order to bring the Mona Lisa back to his native land, Italy. He wanted to repatriate this treasure to Italy. Peruggia stated that he felt humiliated seeing the Mona Lisa on foreign soil every time he passed in front of the painting at the Louvre. On January 4, 1914, the Mona Lisa finally makes its solemn return, its official return to the Louvre, now under reinforced surveillance, meaning more security around this painting. Peruggia will be tried in Italy and sentenced to approximately 1 year in prison. So Italian justice was quite lenient, and in reality, he will serve barely 7 months in prison before being released, meaning allowed to leave.
Ironically, it is this sensational theft that will notably contribute, that will make the celebrity of this painting explode. The media coverage of the affair will attract record crowds to the Louvre to see it throughout the history of this painting. This is, moreover, the only successful theft.
Let's now return for a few moments to the robbery that took place on October 19, 2025, at the Louvre. So, were the thieves arrested? Well, yes, partially. On October 25, about a week after the heist, after the robbery, two men in their thirties will be arrested. One at Roissy Airport in Paris while he was trying to take a flight abroad. The other at his home. How did the police find them? Well, because their DNA was found on items abandoned during the escape, on the vehicle, and on equipment. They will partially, meaning in part, acknowledge their involvement and are indicted for organized gang theft and criminal association. Currently, they are in provisional detention.
In late October, early November, five other people will be apprehended. They will be placed in police custody. And at the end of this police custody, two people, a 38-year-old woman and a 39-year-old man, will be indicted for complicity. The other three people will be released, meaning returned to freedom. According to the prosecutor of Paris, at least one more accomplice was still at large as of November 2. But did they provide any information about where the jewels might be? Well, unfortunately, no. As of now, as I am recording this video, it is November 4. No jewels have been recovered, except, of course, Empress Eugénie's crown, but that was found right next to the museum because it had slipped from the burglars' hands. There have been a lot of rumors about Louvre staff members, but to date, there is no proof of internal complicity.
Audits concerning the museum's security have been carried out, and they have revealed genuine shortcomings. Journalists from the newspaper Libération were able to consult these private audits and tender documents. They thus discovered that several important software programs for the museum's security were very old, no longer really suitable. Numerous updates had not been made for many years. For example, on some computers, the museum was still using Windows 2000, at least until 2017. The newspaper also revealed that it was enough to type the password "Louvre" to access a server managing video surveillance. Of course, that's not a very secure password.
Well, that's the end of this video. I hope you enjoyed it. If so, give it a thumbs up to support my work. Don't forget that you can download the vocabulary sheet, and if you're new here, subscribe so you don't miss any opportunities to practice your French. I'll see you soon.