1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:08,000 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Welcome to This Day in History Class, where 3 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,160 Speaker 1: we bring you a new tipbit from history every day. 4 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:26,320 Speaker 1: Today is August nineteen. The day was August one, nineteen eleven. 5 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:31,760 Speaker 1: An Italian thief named Vincenzo Perucha stole the Mona Lisa 6 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:36,400 Speaker 1: from the Louver Museum in Paris. Peruchia moved to Paris 7 00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:39,760 Speaker 1: in nineteen o eight. In nineteen eleven, he worked at 8 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:43,440 Speaker 1: the Louver as a handyman, fixing the glass in the displays. 9 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:47,760 Speaker 1: Months before he would steal the Mona Lisa, a French 10 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:50,879 Speaker 1: reporter stayed overnight at the Louver in a sarcophagus to 11 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:54,680 Speaker 1: show how bad surveillance at the museum was. The Louver 12 00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:57,480 Speaker 1: did not have the best measures in place to protect 13 00:00:57,480 --> 00:01:01,160 Speaker 1: the artwork from theft. For instance, many of the paintings 14 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:03,840 Speaker 1: were hanging and easy to take off of the wall. 15 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:08,399 Speaker 1: By many accounts, Perucha, no stranger to the personnel in 16 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:11,880 Speaker 1: the museum, entered the Loop on the evening of Sunday, 17 00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:16,680 Speaker 1: August nineteen eleven, wearing the same white smocks that the 18 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:20,040 Speaker 1: Loop employees wore. He went to the gallery that held 19 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:22,720 Speaker 1: the Mona Lisa and hid in a closet until the 20 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:26,840 Speaker 1: museum closed. Then he took the Mona lisa out of 21 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:29,640 Speaker 1: its frame and walked out with it under his smock. 22 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:34,640 Speaker 1: On the one but Perucha himself said that he entered 23 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:38,560 Speaker 1: the loop on the morning of Monday, Auguste grabbed the 24 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:40,880 Speaker 1: Mona Lisa off the wall when nobody was in the 25 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:45,560 Speaker 1: gallery and left with it under his smock. Either way, 26 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:49,400 Speaker 1: he took the painting back to his apartment. The theft 27 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:53,279 Speaker 1: went unnoticed for a whole day, since paintings were often 28 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:57,160 Speaker 1: removed for a cleaning or for photos. But the day 29 00:01:57,200 --> 00:01:59,960 Speaker 1: after the theft, security guards realized that the art were 30 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:04,280 Speaker 1: was missing and reported the theft to the police. Police 31 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:08,320 Speaker 1: launched an investigation into the crime. The Mona Lisa's frame 32 00:02:08,480 --> 00:02:11,960 Speaker 1: was found in a stairwell, and the museum announced the 33 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:15,640 Speaker 1: theft to the public. The museum closed for a week. 34 00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:19,800 Speaker 1: The press jumped on the story, which became international news. 35 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:23,480 Speaker 1: Over the next two years. Fans of the Mona Lisa 36 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:27,160 Speaker 1: and Loup visitors expressed their frustration with the theft of 37 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:32,639 Speaker 1: the beloved artwork. Investigators question witnesses and stopped cars and 38 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:36,920 Speaker 1: pedestrians for searches, but they weren't turning up any leads. 39 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:42,079 Speaker 1: The newspaper Parish Journal, was offering a reward for information 40 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:46,000 Speaker 1: about the theft, and a man named Joseph Jerry Peirey 41 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:49,160 Speaker 1: went to its office with a small statue. He claimed 42 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:52,920 Speaker 1: that he stole from the louver. He once worked for 43 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:56,400 Speaker 1: the poet Guillaume Apollinaire, who had once called for the 44 00:02:56,480 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 1: louver to be burned down, and had several small statues 45 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:04,280 Speaker 1: that were stolen from the louver. Pierre implicated a Pollinaire 46 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:08,480 Speaker 1: and the Mona Lisa theft, but investigators did not think 47 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:12,200 Speaker 1: that Apollinaire committed the crime alone, so they went after 48 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:15,919 Speaker 1: Picasso too, who was a friend of Apollinaires and had 49 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:20,559 Speaker 1: bought stolen statues from Pierre. But after their trial, Apollinaire 50 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:25,560 Speaker 1: and Picasso were let off the hook. The investigation went cold, 51 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:30,959 Speaker 1: though people continued to speculate on the paintings whereabouts. Some 52 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:34,280 Speaker 1: claim they saw it in Brazil or a Japan. Some 53 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:37,520 Speaker 1: said it was in the mansion of financier JP Morgan, 54 00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:42,760 Speaker 1: but Perugia had been keeping the Mona Lisa hidden. He 55 00:03:42,880 --> 00:03:45,800 Speaker 1: insisted that he just wanted to return it to Italy, 56 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:50,600 Speaker 1: where it rightfully belonged as Napoleon had stolen it, though 57 00:03:50,720 --> 00:03:54,840 Speaker 1: it was not plundered under Napoleon. Whether or not he 58 00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:57,880 Speaker 1: was being truthful when he gave this justification for the 59 00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:02,120 Speaker 1: theft has been up for debate. In nineteen thirteen, he 60 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:06,480 Speaker 1: tried to sell the painting using the pseudonym Leonardo Vincenzo. 61 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:11,040 Speaker 1: He wrote to an art dealer in Florence named Alfredo Jerry, 62 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:13,960 Speaker 1: saying he would bring the painting to Italy in exchange 63 00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:18,880 Speaker 1: for five hundred thousand lira. Jerry agreed, and Perugia took 64 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:23,160 Speaker 1: the Mona Lisa to Italy. Jerry said that Ufizi Gallery 65 00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:27,560 Speaker 1: would authenticate the painting, but instead of buying the painting, 66 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:31,960 Speaker 1: Jerry reported Peruchia to the police. He was arrested on 67 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:36,719 Speaker 1: December eleventh in his hotel. The Ufizi Gallery displayed the 68 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:39,479 Speaker 1: Mona Lisa for a couple of weeks before it was 69 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:44,200 Speaker 1: returned to the Louver in January of nineteen fourteen. Peruchia 70 00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:48,200 Speaker 1: was convicted of theft in August of nineteen fourteen and 71 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:51,680 Speaker 1: sentenced to just over a year in prison, though he 72 00:04:51,839 --> 00:04:56,600 Speaker 1: served less time than that. Art enthusiasts and critics showed 73 00:04:56,640 --> 00:05:01,280 Speaker 1: renewed interest in the Mona Lisa after its return. I'm 74 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:03,680 Speaker 1: each chef Coote and hopefully you know a little more 75 00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:08,200 Speaker 1: about history today than you did yesterday. We love it 76 00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:12,080 Speaker 1: if you left us a comment on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. 77 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:18,160 Speaker 1: At t D i h C podcast, thanks for showing up. 78 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:28,680 Speaker 1: We'll meet here again tomorrow. For more podcasts from I 79 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:31,560 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or 80 00:05:31,560 --> 00:05:33,159 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.