Just a cold and lonely, lovely work of art : The Mona Lisa

Q. What's the story behind the theft of the Mona Lisa

A. On Monday 21 August 1911, Leonardo da Vinci's La Gioconda - better known as the Mona Lisa, the world's most famous work of art - was stolen from its home at the Louvre in Paris. While many employees at the museum had noticed that the painting was not in its usual place that morning, everyone assumed that the museum's photographer had taken it to his studio.

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When, the next day, the painting still hadn't reappeared, and it was found not to be in the photographer's studio after all, the police were contacted and they set up headquarters in the museum curator's office. The entire 49-acre museum was searched from top to bottom, a monumental task which took a week, but only the heavy frame was found in a staircase leading to a cloakroom.

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It was sensational news, and French papers made several claims as to the nature of the theft. One claimed that an American collector had stolen the work and would have an exact copy made which would be returned to the museum. The collector would then keep the original. Another said that the entire incident was a hoax to show how bad security was at the Louvre.

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Q. Wasn't Pablo Picasso implicated in the theft

A. Picasso was just one of many people questioned about it. The man who is heralded as the greatest artist of the 20th century was summoned to help the law with their inquiries as he had previously bought two stone sculptures from a friend named Pieret. Pieret had stolen these items from the Louvre a few months before the theft of the Mona Lisa, and Picasso was worried that perhaps his friend might have also stolen the painting. Fearful of bad publicity, Picasso anonymously gave the sculptures to a local newspaper to have them returned. However, someone informed the police, and he was called in, but, after being questioned, cleared.

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Q. Who did steal the painting

A. An Italian named Vincenzo Perugia was responsible. He had hidden in the museum on Sunday night. On Monday morning, before the museum opened, he entered the room where the painting was kept and unhooked from the wall. On the way out he cut it from its frame and exited the building.

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Ten months before the painting was stolen, the museum had decided to have all its most valuable paintings put behind glass. Perugia was one of four men assigned to the job, so, as someone connected with the Louvre, he was questioned, but never a suspect.

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Q. When and how was it recovered

A. More than two years later Perugia tried to sell the work to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence for �60,000, but they were having none of it. Perugia claimed he had stolen the work out of patriotism, that he was unhappy that such a famous work by an Italian should be kept in France. What he didn't know was that da Vinci himself had sold it to the French king Francis I for 4,000 gold coins.

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Q. And a few statistics about 'the lady with the mystic smile'

• Painted: 1503-1506
• Where : Florence
• Dimensions: 53.5cm x 76.2cm (21" x 30"),
• Medium: oil on wood.
• Who was she : the wife of Florentine noble Francesco del Giocondo
• Current home: back in the Louvre behind bullet-proof glass

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By Simon Smith