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The Complete Story of the World's Most Famous Artwork
by Noah Charney
If you read one book on the Mona Lisa, let this be it. From the artwork to its theft and role in popular culture, The Thefts of the Mona Lisa provides the complete story, as written by a bestselling, Pulitzer finalist.
Leonardo da Vinci's portrait, called the Mona Lisa, is without doubt the world's most famous painting. It achieved its fame not only because it is a remarkable example of Renaissance portraiture, created by an acclaimed artistic and scientific genius, but because of its criminal history. The Mona Lisa (also called La Gioconda or La Joconde) was stolen on 21 August 1911 by an Italian, Vincenzo Peruggia. Peruggia was under the mistaken impression that the Mona Lisa had been stolen from Italy during the Napoleonic era, and he wished to take back for Italy one of his country's greatest treasures. His successful theft of the painting from the Louvre, the farcical manhunt that followed, and Peruggia's subsequent trial in Florence were highly publicized, sparking the attention of the international media, and catapulting an already admired painting into stratospheric heights of fame. This book reveals the art and criminal history of the Mona Lisa.
Charney examines the criminal biography of Leonardo's Mona Lisa, with a focus on separating fact from fiction in the story of what is not only the most famous art heist in history, but which is the single most famous theft of all time. In the process he delves into Leonardo's creation of the Mona Lisa, discusses why it is so famous, and investigates two other events in its history of theft and renown. First, it examines the so-called "affaire des statuettes," in which Pablo Picasso and Guillaume Apollinaire were arrested under suspicion of involvement in the theft of the Mona Lisa. Second, there has long been a question as to whether the Nazis stole the Mona Lisa during the Second World War—a question that this book seeks to resolve.
"Historian Charney tracks the eventful life of the Mona Lisa in this rollicking account...Charney succeeds in separating myth and legend from fact as he uncovers the background behind the artwork's celebrity. The result is both a thrilling tale of true crime and a rigorous work of art history."
―Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"[T]he author explains how critical reception to the Mona Lisa changed over time, offering valuable perspective on how the theft contributed to the portrait's place in popular culture."
―Kirkus Reviews
"In The Thefts of the Mona Lisa, Noah Charney reveals fascinating details about the beguiling masterpiece's artistic and social history, including its infamous 1911 theft and two years' absence from the Louvre...The Thefts of the Mona Lisa is a thorough, diverting analysis of the Renaissance painting—the world's most recognizable artwork and visage.
―Foreword Reviews
The Thefts of the Mona Lisa reads like a thriller. But this stuff is ALL real. It happened. You're going to learn all about how and why one of the most famous works of art on the planet has attracted the attention of so many thieves and fanatics."
―Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author
This book reads like a thriller, but a historically sound art thriller. It is not just about the famous 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa but covers the entire background to the theft and its subsequent denouement with, in addition, plenty of judicious art history. Read it before (and after) seeing the real thing.
―Donald Sassoon, author of Mona Lisa: The History of the World's Most Famous Painting
This information about The Thefts of the Mona Lisa was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Dr Noah Charney is the internationally best-selling author of more than twenty books, translated into fourteen languages, including The Collector of Lives: Giorgio Vasari and the Invention of Art, which was nominated for the 2017 Pulitzer Prize in Biography, and Museum of Lost Art, which was the finalist for the 2018 Digital Book World Award. A 2006 New York Times Magazine article, written when he was just 26, suggested that he had founded the field of the academic study of art crime. From that point forward, he has been considered the leading authority on the history of art crime. He is a professor of art history specializing in art crime, and has taught for Yale University, Brown University, American University of Rome and University of Ljubljana. He is founder of ARCA, the Association for Research into Crimes against Art, a ground-breaking research group (www.artcrimeresearch.org) and teaches on their annual summer-long Postgraduate Program in Art Crime and Cultural Heritage Protection. He writes often for dozens of major magazines and newspapers, including The Guardian, the Washington Post, the Observer and The Art Newspaper. He has recently fronted an influencer campaign for Samsung, and in 2022 he presented a BBC Radio 4 documentary, "China's Stolen Treaures." He writes scripts for TED, the videos of which have been viewed millions of times. He films courses for The Teaching Company's Great Courses/Wondrium and teaches online courses for Atlas Obscura and other venues. He lives in Slovenia with his wife, children and their hairless dog, Hubert van Eyck (believe it or not). Learn more at www.noahcharney.com.
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