Mona Lisa (Gioconda)

Country: Spain

Manufactory: Lladro

Date of establishment: 1985

Sculptor: Francisco Catala

Height (cm): 28

Porcelain Story

On the 21st of August, 1911 the city of Paris was shocked by the sad news on the lips of its inhabitants. Not Paris, in fact the whole of France spoke of it as a national catastrophe. Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa had been stolen from the Louvre! The front pages of newspapers were full of sensational versions of the "theft of the century". Police detectives were scrambling around looking for the likely culprits. The first thing they did, of course, was to check the employees of the famous museum. The fact that on the protective glass, just a few days before it was installed on the legendary painting, was found a fingerprint. The only evidence was compared with the fingerprints of all 257 employees of the museum. Without success... The director of the Louvre was forced to resign and the entire museum administration was scandalously dismissed.

And it never even occurred to anyone to suggest that the mysterious fingerprint could have been left by a glassblower named Vincenzo Perugia, who had last touched the painting before it disappeared. Vincenzo would later confess that he had always been madly in love with Gioconda's smile, for it reminded him of 'the smile of a childhood friend'. For several years, the happy glazier, having moved to Florence, alone enjoyed the contemplation of one of the most expensive works of art in the world. Meanwhile, in France, one sensational version after another was being discussed. Can you imagine if at one time even the famous poet Apollinaire and no less famous artist Pablo Picasso were suspected of organizing the theft of the Mona Lisa.

You wouldn't believe it, but it was the theft that made Leonardo da Vinci's painting even more popular. Long queues lined up in the Louvre wanting to see "the place where the painting was hanging". In Parisian cabarets dancers took to the podium wearing masks of the Mona Lisa, delighting tipsy audiences. And only the sinking of the Titanic had diverted the attention of French newspaper readers from the search for the stolen masterpiece for some time.

The denouement to this story came, as it often happens, quite unexpectedly. In December 1913, the owner of one of the Florentine art galleries had received a letter from a certain Vincenzo Leonard, who offered to buy his Gioconda. Without thinking twice, the gallerist invited the director of the world-famous Uffizi Gallery to a meeting with the stranger at the Tripoli Hotel. Seeing the original stolen painting intact, both were at first stunned. Then, quickly recovering from their shock, they rushed to the police, who were not slow to apprehend the culprit. This detective story ended surprisingly well for the glass thief. After serving only a few months of his one-year prison sentence, Vincenzo Perugia continued his work glazing everything that was not yet glazed. The Mona Lisa returned to its place in the Louvre, where even today everyone can admire it in peace and enjoy its unparalleled pleasure.