7. The Mona Lisa Hasn’t Always Been a Fixture at the Louvre
Though Francis I acquired the Mona Lisa after Da Vinci’s death in 1519 and the painting was at the Louvre while he lived there, the museum’s most famous painting moved among the French royal family’s other palaces, including Fontainebleau and Versailles, for centuries.
When the monarchy was abolished during the revolution, the Mona Lisa was put on display in the Louvre and made part of the museum’s permanent collection. In the centuries since, it has only been removed a handful of times.
First, it was removed because Napoleon wanted to hang the painting in his bedroom. Then, it was hidden for safety during both the Franco-Prussian War and World War II, along with other valuable and moveable works of art. In 1911, the painting was stolen, but it was returned two years later. Finally, in the 1960s, it toured American museums in New York and Washington, D.C. at the request of Jacqueline Kennedy.
