Mona Lisa had closed. Peruggia was an Italian patriot who believed Leonardo's painting should have been returned for display in an Italian museum. Peruggia may have been motivated by an associate whose copies of the original would significantly rise in value after the painting's theft. A later account suggested Eduardo de Valfierno had been the mastermind of the theft and had commissioned forger Yves Chaudron to create six copies of the painting to sell in the U.S. while the location of the original was unclear. However, the original painting remained in Europe. After having kept the "Mona Lisa" in his apartment for
The Conjurer (painting) The Conjurer (painting) The Conjurer is by Early Netherlandish painter Hieronymus Bosch or his workshop, executed around 1502. There are five versions of this painting and one engraving, but most experts believe the most reliable copy is part of the collection of the Musée Municipal in St.-Germain-en-Laye, which is kept locked in a safe and loaned out on a limited basis for special exhibitions in France and abroad. On 1 December 1978 the painting was stolen from the museum and returned on 2 February 1979. The painting comes from the bequest of Louis Alexandre Ducastel, a notary at Saint Germain