Eduardo de Valfierno Eduardo de Valfierno Eduardo de Valfierno (1850–1931), who posed as a "marqués" (marquis), was an Argentine con man who allegedly masterminded the theft of the "Mona Lisa" in 1911. In 1932 journalist Karl Decker published a story in the "Saturday Evening Post" claiming Valfierno paid several men to steal the work of art from the Louvre, including museum employee Vincenzo Peruggia. On August 21, 1911 Peruggia hid the "Mona Lisa" under his coat and simply walked out the door. Before the heist took place, Valfierno allegedly commissioned French art restorer and forger Yves Chaudron to make six copies of the
Paris during the Bourbon Restoration The Musée du Luxembourg had been the first public art gallery in Paris, displaying works from the royal collection, and then a showcase of art by Jacques-Louis David and other painters of the Empire. It re-opened 24 April 1818 as a museum for the work of living artists. Another new gallery, the Musée Dauphin, opened within the Louvre on 27 November 1827. The dominant style of art gradually changed from neoclassicism to romanticism. Jacques-Louis David was in exile in Brussels, but Antoine Gros, who had painted portraits of Napoleon's court, made a new career painting the portraits of the restored