110 years ago, they found La Gioconda, a global icon that was thought to be lost

110 years ago, on December 12, 1913, the famous painting “La Gioconda” was found in the Italian city of Florence. Leonardo Da Vinci Which was stolen.

The theft occurred two years earlier, in 1911, when the Mona Lisa was on display at the Louvre Museum in Paris. The disappearance, which was slow to be discovered, catapulted the painting to fame and transformed it into an international icon.

The theft of the Mona Lisa: 110 years ago they found La Gioconda

The Mona Lisa was stolen on August 21, 1911 from the Louvre Museum in the capital of France. However, the truth was discovered a day later, when the staff realized that the painting was not there.

It was not surprising that it took so long to achieve this, according to National Geographic magazine, since the works are usually transported to be photographed.

But the next day, news of the theft made the front pages of international newspapers.

The investigators in the case had several hypotheses: they thought it was blackmail and that a ransom demand would come, which could have served as an alarm bell given the lack of security measures, and they even went so far as to question Apollinaire and Picasso, who at that time were young and rebellious avant-garde artists, They shouted against artistic institutions.

However, months continued to pass and there was no information about the portrait of Leonardo.

During this absence, the museum broke the record for the number of visitors. Everyone came to see the hole that used to be where the Mona Lisa was. However, as time passed, the authorities began to lose hope and by 1913, the Mona Lisa was no longer in the museum’s catalogue.

More than two years passed until the French authorities were able to obtain information: a call from Alfredo Gehry, an Italian art dealer.

110 years after the rescue and return of La Gioconda

Alfredo Gehry, director of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence at the time, revealed that a man named Leonardo had tried to sell him the original piece.

With this information, Vincenzo Peruggia, a French worker who was an employee at the Louvre Museum, fell. According to Peruggia, he intended to return the work to its true home, because he believed it to be part of the artwork taken by Napoleon at the beginning of the nineteenth century.

Finally, Vincenzo was sentenced to one year and fifteen days in prison, later reduced to seven months and nine days.

Meanwhile, “La Gioconda” was exhibited in Florence, Rome and Milan, finally returning to France on January 4, 1914.

More anniversaries

1915 – Frank Sinatra. American singer and actor Frank Sinatra, who is considered one of the most important figures of the twentieth century and one of the most famous singers of all time, was born in the city of Hoboken (New Jersey, USA).

1980 – Armand Hammer. American oil tycoon Armand Hammer paid $5.6 million at a London auction to keep Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci’s 72-page handwritten diary. The business was in the hands of the heirs of Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester for 263 years.

2000 – Lamarck’s Freedom. Actress and singer Libertad Lamarque, the “Queen of Tango” and one of the Argentine artists of great international importance, died in Mexico City at the age of 92. In 1933 he worked in ¡Tango!, the first Argentine sound film, alongside Tita Merillo.

2011 – Alberto de Mendoza. Argentine actor Alberto de Mendoza (Alberto Manuel Rodríguez Gallego Gonzalez de Mendoza), who shot more than a hundred films, has died in Madrid at the age of 88. He received the Silver Condor, Konex, Ace and Martin Fierro awards.

2015 – Paris Agreement. In the French capital, the Paris Agreement was signed within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change with measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

2023 – Agricultural machinery. Agricultural Machinery Day is celebrated in memory of the decree signed by President and General Juan Domingo Perón in 1951 declaring the industry “of national importance.”

2023 – Day of Neutrality. The International Day of Neutrality, established by the United Nations in 2017 at the suggestion of Turkmenistan, which has been recognized as a permanently neutral country since 1995, is celebrated.

2023 – Health coverage. The International Day for Universal Health Coverage, declared by the United Nations in 2012 to urge countries to “accelerate progress towards universal health coverage” so that “all people” have access to quality, affordable health services, is observed.

2023 – Zeniz Day. Boca Juniors Fan Day, which was established on December 12, 2012, is celebrated in honor of “la 12”, as the “xeneize” team’s fans are called.

Another anniversary

1492.- Christopher Columbus orders the construction of Fort Natividad, where he leaves a garrison with the remains of the ship Santa Maria, which was lost when it ran aground in Hispaniola (Haiti).

1814.- The Spanish garrison in Bogotá surrenders honorably to Simón Bolívar.

1818.- The Congress of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata recognizes Chile as a free and independent state.

1901.- Guglielmo Marconi sends the first message by wireless telegraph across the Atlantic Ocean, from Great Britain to Newfoundland (Canada).

1911.- George V of England founded the city of New Delhi, where the seat of the British colonial government in India was established.

1915.- The first all-metal aircraft, invented by German aviator and industrialist Hugo Junkers, was displayed in Berlin.

1924.- The Autogyro La Cerva makes its flight from Cuatro Vientos to Getafe in Madrid.

1954.- The largest ship in the world up to that time was launched in Newport News, Virginia (USA), the aircraft carrier “Forrestal”.

1956. – Fidel Castro and some of his men opposed to the Fulgencio Batista regime enter the Sierra Maestra after landing in the Oriente province on the island of Cuba.

1979.- An underwater earthquake in the port of Tumaco (Colombia) with a magnitude of between 7.7 and 8.1 on the Richter scale, causing the deaths of nearly 500 people and a similar number of injuries.

1981- Peruvian Javier Pérez de Cuellar was elected Secretary-General of the United Nations.

1992.- The remains of Pablo Neruda and his companion Matilda Urrutia were transferred to the island of Negra (Chile).

1993.- The new Russian constitution, the first to include the principle of separation of powers, was approved in a majority referendum.

1994.- South Africa rejoins UNESCO after 38 years of absence.

1996 – The government and rebels in Guatemala signed an agreement in Madrid to integrate the rebels into the country’s political life.

1999.- The Maltese oil tanker “Erika” capsized off the coast of Breton and more than 10,000 tons of fuel leaked into the sea.

2003.- Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo requests the resignation of all his ministers after complaints of their involvement in several corruption cases.

2004.- Sony launches the PlayStation Portable (PSP) in Japan.

2006.- Former Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam was convicted of genocide by a court in Addis Ababa.

2010.- Kosovo holds its first parliamentary elections since its unilateral independence from Serbia in February 2008.

2013.- North Korea executes the second-in-command in the regime, Jang Song Thaek, the uncle of the North Korean leader, who is sentenced to death on charges of corruption.

2016.- Portuguese Antonio Guterres is sworn in as Secretary-General of the United Nations.

.- The European Union and Cuba sign their first bilateral agreement on political dialogue and cooperation, after nearly three decades.

2019.- Former Bolivian President Evo Morales arrives in Argentina and asks to be welcomed as a refugee after resigning from office under pressure from the opposition and the army.

2020.- The execution of Iranian journalist Ruhola Zam, director of the Amad News website, after he was sentenced to death on charges of inciting protests against the regime at the end of 2017.

birth

1821 – Gustave Flaubert, French novelist.

1863 – Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter.

1934 – Miguel de la Madrid, former President of Mexico.

1946. – Emerson Fittipaldi, Brazilian car champion.

1950 – Francisco Montesinos, Spanish fashion designer and designer.

Deaths.

1777 – Albert von Haller, Swiss physiologist.

1859. – Robert Stevenson, English engineer.

1985 – Anne Baxter, American film actress.

1989. – Carlos Barral, Spanish poet, editor and politician.

1990 – Concha Bequer, Spanish singer.

1993. – Josef Antal, historian, Prime Minister of Hungary.

2006. – Peter Boyle, American actor.

2007. – Josep Genovart, Spanish painter.

-Ike Turner, American singer.

2008. – Tassos Papadopoulos, former President of Cyprus.

2016.- Javier Echevarria, Bishop of Opus Dei.

2019. – Danny Aiello, American actor.

2020. – John le Carré, British writer.

2021.- Vicente Fernandez, Mexican singer.

Source: Private and agencies.