Today’s DOTD - Drink Of The Day - is a Mona Lisa Cocktail inspired by the theft that made the Mona Lisa famous, beyond the art world. That theft happened on this date, August 21, 1911.
Believe it or not, the Mona Lisa was not widely known outside the art world prior to its theft and two year disappearance. It was not until after the theft and all the publicity that occurred, that this piece of art gained its status as a masterpiece.
The theft of the Mona Lisa was actually what propelled the work to the status it enjoys today. It became a household name due to all the publicity and the subsequent police search and investigation, which was highly criticized and led to the head of the Paris police to retire in shame. The publicity around the theft was enormous and the search for suspects stretched so far as to include Pablo Picasso, the Kaiser of Germany, and some prominent American millionaires who were collecting art.
The theft itself though was actually quite simple. Vincenzo Peruggia, who was an employee of the Louvre, hid in a closet. While the museum was still closed, he slipped out of the closet, and using the tools he brought, removed the painting from its protective case and took it off the wall. He covered the art with his smock and simply walked out. One report even said that the original door he was trying to get out of was locked, but a helpful plumber passing by saw him struggling with the lock and used his key to unlock the door for Peruggia.
It took 24 hours before anyone realized the Mona Lisa was missing. The painting was only discovered stolen after small series of events. A visitor to the Louvre, a still life artist who had set up an easel to paint a scene in the gallery, asked a guard why the Mona Lisa wasn’t on display. The guard actually thought the painting was back in storage waiting to be photographed. At that time, there was a large project going on at the Louvre to photograph the art displayed there. Because cameras at the time required a great deal of light to get quality images, each piece of art had to be taken to the roof to be photographed. When the guard checked, and the photographer reported that he didn’t have the Mona Lisa, Louvre officials finally realized it was stolen.
Peruggia hid the art in a false bottom of a trunk and a little more than 2 years after he stole it - 28 months, to be precise - he contacted an art dealer in Florence Italy, in an effort to sell the work. The dealer was suspicious and contacted the head of the Uffizi Gallery - an art museum in Florence, Italy famous for its priceless works from the Italian Renaissance - and asked the museum director to look at it. Realizing its authenticity, the museum director reported the theft, and immediately Peruggia was arrested.
Surprising, to many, the thief Peruggia was only sentenced to 7 months in prison. In the course of his prosecution, he claimed that he stole the Mona Lisa in order to return it to Italy where he felt it rightfully belonged. He thought he would be heralded as a national hero for returning the art to Italy but was dismayed when that didn’t occur. No one said criminals were intelligent.
In celebration of the Mona Lisa being safe where it should be, let’s raise a glass with today’s Drink Of The Day, a Mona Lisa Cocktail!
Ingredients
Here’s what you’re going to need for this drink:
