On 11 December 1913, the "Mona Lisa," Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece, was triumphantly recovered after being stolen from the Louvre Museum in 1911.
The painting, hidden by its thief Vincenzo Peruggia in a trunk for two years, was retrieved when he attempted to sell it to an Italian art dealer in Florence.
Peruggia, an Italian patriot, claimed he wanted to return the artwork to its homeland, unaware that da Vinci had legally sold it to King Francis I of France centuries prior.
The recovery marked a joyous moment for the art world, restoring one of its most celebrated icons to its rightful place in the Louvre.
