What a weird essay! Very unsatisfying payoff. They lay out the theft, public reaction, some art history, then not a single word on how it resloved, who actually took it and how it was found. The only hint was "an antique dealer got a letter". Thanks, I guess I'll just try Wikipedia.
There's significantly more detail in the timeline[1] which is linked to from the cited page.The links aren't all that obvious if, like me, you are looking at the page on a phone.
My favourite part of this story is how the picture, once recovered, toured Italy before being returned to the Louvre. I seem to recall (can't remember the name of the book) that significant sentiment had arisen in Italy suggesting that it shouldn't be returned and the tour was an attempt to address that concern.
I visited the Louvre a few months ago and the tour guide said the news coverage of the theft (spoiler: a Louvre employee took it) is what catapulted the painting to become one of the most well-known paintings in the entire world.
I suppose it was always valuable, but what made it astronomically value was that someone stole it and then lots of people talked about it - kind of interesting to think about how things like that come to affect the value of an item.
One of the popular self help books (Covey maybe?) shares an anecdote ..
The author was spending time at the beach with family and friends, kids playing on the beach. There were enough and more toys for all kids to play with.
One little girl however spent an inordinate amount of time showering love and attention over one specific doll. And after that all other kids wanted to play with THAT doll only, ignoring all other toys.
Guess that is a commentary on human nature at some level.
FOMO meets advertising and possibly (and especially?) meet storytelling. We don't know which compelling fiction those kids developed around that doll. In another domain we observe that some TV series perform much better than the other ones available at the same time but nobody can predict which one will be the top rated.
This is the basic psychological trait exploited by advertising. Show someone important, famous, or relatable, enjoying a product, and it creates a subconscious desire in other humans to enjoy the same thing.
In this case, if the item is worth stealing, then surely it must be very valuable to someone, hence it should be valuable to everyone. This being a unique item, i.e. scarcity, pushes its value to astronomical heights. There's theoretically no limit to what someone is willing to pay or do to obtain such a piece. We see this all the time in the art world.
It went from one of the most valuable paintings in the world (top 10-20 or so) to THE most valuable painting in the world. Its estimated value is nearly a billion dollars which is almost twice the value of the one in second place, the Salvator Mundi.
Just saw it at the Louvre myself in June. It was wild how there was that somewhat long line w/ people jockeying for position at the front to take selfies with it.
I remember there was also a bit about how once it went missing there weren't any photographs of it and only a very ecstatic description and some drawings. So it was also this curiosity that peaked the value.
It was painted between 1503~1506, but in the Louvre, its labeled 1510, to account for the work that may have been done as late as 1514. It is painted on a board that is splitting, and the subject of extraordinary care.
When I went to see it, there was no line, how ever, the person viewing it beside me said there was a 4 hour wait in the morning.
Argue against me please: da Vinci's real Mona Lisa is not what's hanging in the Louvre; the original was never recovered. (This is one of my favorite conspiracies)
Readit News
My favourite part of this story is how the picture, once recovered, toured Italy before being returned to the Louvre. I seem to recall (can't remember the name of the book) that significant sentiment had arisen in Italy suggesting that it shouldn't be returned and the tour was an attempt to address that concern.
[1] https://www.pbs.org/treasuresoftheworld/a_nav/mona_nav/mnav_...
I suppose it was always valuable, but what made it astronomically value was that someone stole it and then lots of people talked about it - kind of interesting to think about how things like that come to affect the value of an item.
The author was spending time at the beach with family and friends, kids playing on the beach. There were enough and more toys for all kids to play with.
One little girl however spent an inordinate amount of time showering love and attention over one specific doll. And after that all other kids wanted to play with THAT doll only, ignoring all other toys.
Guess that is a commentary on human nature at some level.
In this case, if the item is worth stealing, then surely it must be very valuable to someone, hence it should be valuable to everyone. This being a unique item, i.e. scarcity, pushes its value to astronomical heights. There's theoretically no limit to what someone is willing to pay or do to obtain such a piece. We see this all the time in the art world.
With multiple art pieces being stolen, it's also partially a matter of luck and publicity that Mona Lisa was so singled out to become a legend.
Just saw it at the Louvre myself in June. It was wild how there was that somewhat long line w/ people jockeying for position at the front to take selfies with it.
When I went to see it, there was no line, how ever, the person viewing it beside me said there was a 4 hour wait in the morning.
It is tiny - measuring only 31" x 20"
Just in case, like me, you were wondering why on earth you couldn't remember about this happening just 23 years ago.
(I just watched a program about the Mandela Effect, so maybe I was susceptible to this misunderstanding!)