The Louvre administration has announced that it plans to auction an unusual tour that will provide buyers with a unique experience. These include a visit to a concert that will be held in the hall of royal receptions, as well as the opportunity to see the famous La Gioconda by Leonardo da Vinci without protective glass. The starting bid is € 10,000.
If you do not take into account the ministers of the Louvre and experts who periodically inspect museum exhibits, no one has been able to see one of the most famous paintings in the world since the 1950s without protection.
Theft and popularity
At the beginning of the last century, “La Gioconda” (or, as it is also called, “Mona Lisa”, since the full name sounds like “Portrait of Mrs. Lisa del Giocondo”) was known only to subtle connoisseurs of the famous Italian's craftsmanship. But that all changed after the theft in 1911.
According to archival data, La Gioconda entered the Louvre after the start of the French Revolution. Prior to this, the painting belonged to Louis XIV, who transported it to the Palace of Versailles, and even earlier to King Francis I, who bought it from the heirs of a disciple of Leonardo da Vinci's closest assistant, Salai, who received the masterpiece according to the will of the master himself.
The French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, fascinated by the beauty of the canvas, took it from the Louvre and hung it in the bedroom of his palace, but after a while the painting returned to the museum.
In 1911, the La Gioconda was stolen. The French police were raised to their feet, the borders were closed, the administration of the museum was dismissed. Searches were carried out, and a reward was offered for information about the painting. In vain. Not even a trace of the mysterious thief could be found. Even such celebrities as Pablo Picasso and the French poet and critic Guillaume Apollinaire have come under suspicion. The latter was even arrested, however, he was soon released.
And here the press got involved. A stir around the stolen canvas was created under the slogan “National treasure is stolen, and the police are powerless.” For many months, photographs of the painting, as well as historical data about it, interspersed with all sorts of speculation and hypotheses, did not leave the front pages of the most famous newspapers in the world.
The second surge of interest in the canvas occurred two years later. The kidnapper, who turned out to be a former employee of the Louvre, the Italian Vincenzo Perudgia, offered to sell “La Gioconda” to the director of the oldest gallery in Florence, the Uffizi gallery. The thief was captured, the painting was confiscated.
After triumphant exhibitions in Italy, La Gioconda returned to the Louvre and literally became an object of worship. Contemporaries recalled that when excursions to the museum were organized for the Parisian workers, their only requirement was to show the La Gioconda.
Everything has sharply increased: the popularity of the painting, the Louvre's income, and also the insurance value of the canvas. Today it is 3 billion euros. Moreover, not all insurance companies agreed to conclude an agreement with the museum, because they are not sure that after the theft, it was Da Vinci's La Gioconda that returned to the Louvre, and not a fake.
Vandalism
Where there is popularity, there are vandals. The painting of the great Italian was attempted four times, and twice in the same year. In 1956, one of the Louvre's visitors splashed acid on the canvas, and another, after a while, threw a stone at it, damaging the paint near the elbow of the La Gioconda.
After that, the museum administration decided to protect the unique work of art and the painting was covered with bulletproof glass.
The next two attempts did not harm the painting and remained only in the chronicles. In 1974, during a show in Tokyo, one of the visitors sprayed paint on the protective glass. Later investigation showed that in this way the woman protested against the museum's policy on the disabled.
The last time La Gioconda was attacked was in 2009: a Russian woman, upset that she was denied French citizenship, threw a cup at the painting.
According to the administration of the Louvre, the painting is in a rather sad state and is unlikely to take part in exhibitions on the road in the foreseeable future – deep cracks have formed on the canvas, and one of them does not reach the head of Mrs. Lisa in a few millimeters. So to see “La Gioconda” and even without a protective glass is a truly unique opportunity.
