On the morning of August 21, 1911, Vincenzo Peruggia, an Italian glazier employed by the Louvre, removed the Mona Lisa from its frame and hid it under his smock to steal the painting. He had previously worked on the protective glass case for the artwork. The theft was not discovered until the following day when a painter came to sketch the masterpiece and found the space empty. The incident caused a global sensation, transforming the relatively obscure Renaissance portrait into the most famous painting in the world.

The theft catapulted the Mona Lisa to unprecedented global fame, cementing its status as the world's most recognized artwork.

Artists involved