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
Evacuation of the Louvre museum art collection during World War II responsible of the conservation of the French art collections under the Kunstschutz principle, arrived in Paris to oversee France’s art collection, but the museum was almost empty. He knew what was going on but voluntarily did not do anything. Evacuation of the Louvre museum art collection during World War II During the beginning of the German invasions during World War II, Jacques Jaujard, the director of the French Musées Nationaux, foreshadowed the fall of France and decided to organize the evacuation of the Louvre art collection in province. On 25 August 1939, the Louvre was closed for 3 days, officially