Mona Lisa Béroud checked back with the Section Chief of the Louvre who confirmed that the "Mona Lisa" was not with the photographers. The Louvre was closed for an entire week during the investigation. French poet Guillaume Apollinaire came under suspicion and was arrested and imprisoned. Apollinaire implicated his friend Pablo Picasso, who was brought in for questioning. Both were later exonerated. Two years later the thief revealed himself. Louvre employee Vincenzo Peruggia had stolen the "Mona Lisa" by entering the building during regular hours, hiding in a broom closet, and walking out with it hidden under his coat after the museum
The Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting film was featured in film festivals after its release such as the London Film Festival in 1979. "Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting" has been noted as one of Ruiz’s masterpieces that challenges the boundaries of cinema and film theory. “You can say "The Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting" is a detective film because of its riddle… In a more baroque system as in the system of "Hypothesis", you don’t enjoy finding the enigma.” "Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting" begins with a static shot of a street which appears at first to be a still image or photograph. The opening shot