Vincenzo Peruggia Vincenzo Peruggia Vincenzo Peruggia (October 8, 1881 – October 8, 1925) was an Italian thief, most famous for stealing the "Mona Lisa" on 21 August 1911. Born in Dumenza, Varese, Italy, he died in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, France. In 1911, Peruggia perpetrated what has been described as the greatest art theft of the 20th century. It was a police theory that the former Louvre worker hid inside the museum on Sunday, August 20, knowing the museum would be closed the following day. But, according to Peruggia's interrogation in Florence after his arrest, he entered the museum on Monday, August 21 around 7
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