‘Has the Mona Lisa been stolen?’ Tourist’s TikTok video showing police cars speeding through Paris sparks panic that Da Vinci’s masterpiece has been stolen from the Louvre gallery
Fears that the world’s most famous painting has been stolen from its home at the Louvre art museum have been sparked after a tourist posted a video on TikTok.
@narvanator’s 10-second clip of security vans and police cars driving through the city with blue lights – near the Arc de Triomphe – has now been viewed by 1.4 million people, and quite a few of them are convinced that Leonardo is there Vinci’s masterpiece was in doubt hands.
You may have seen Knives Out: A Glass Onion Mystery, where the famous painting is the target of a robbery. Or last year’s Minions: The Rise of Gru, which also sees the masterpiece in peril.
While the Louvre has not commented on the video and the painting appears to be safely under lock and key at the Paris art museum, it’s certainly not inconceivable that it could be lost – it was stolen in 1911 and destroyed four times.
Scroll down for videos
Source panic! Leonardo da Vinci’s painting Mona Lisa – also known as La Gioconda – pictured in Paris in 2020 – a tourist video sparked panic this week that the famous painting had gone missing
The short video of the gendarmerie apparently speeding towards a major incident was captioned: “POV: Your [sic] in Paris when the Mona Lisa was stolen”.
Many of the 15,000 viewers joked that “Gru” – the villain in The Minions franchise – was up to no good, referring to a storyline in last year’s film.
Others suggested that the heroic child duo Ladybug and Cat Noir – who saved the Mona Lisa before – could soon be in the French capital to see how the painting – also known as La Gioconda – has returned safely.
The TikTok tourist captioned the short clip: “Yours [sic] in Paris when the Mona Lisa was stolen” – which caused panic – and Google searches – from people assuming it was true
The Louvre, where the painting is kept, has not commented on the clip, which has been seen by 1.4 million people, but there have been no reports of an actual theft (PicturedL The Arc de Triomphe).
Searches for “Has the Mona Lisa been stolen?” shot up on Google last night – with 1.4 million people having seen the clip.
As with all good rumors, a percentage believed them to be true — and searched “Was the Mona Lisa stolen?”. Shot up on Google last night.
The painting remains the hottest ticket at the city’s Louvre Museum and is closely guarded at all times.
Leonardo da Vinci’s mysterious painting of Lisa del Giocondo, the wife of a Florentine silk merchant, draws thousands of tourists to the gallery every week to take a look.
The painting was originally purchased by King Francois I in the early 16th century – for the equivalent of 12 tons of pure silver – and hung in his bathroom.
A Victorian art critic wrote of the painting’s appeal: “Perhaps of all ancient pictures it has been least chilled by time. She is older than the rocks among which she sits like the vampire, she has been dead many times and learned the secrets of the grave, and she has been a diver in deep seas and keeps her fallen day around her, and all of that was to them like the sound of lyres and flutes.’
In 1911, the Louvre was definitely found wanting, and a thief could take the Mona Lisa off the wall and walk away with it.
After frantic speculation about its whereabouts – Picasso was once a suspect – the Da Vinci painting was eventually tracked down in Paris two years later – stowed under a bed in a suitcase.
Continue reading:
What would YOU banish from society? People are uncovering the annoyances that “shouldn’t be allowed” — from dress sizes being different in every store to off-leash dogs to inheritance taxes
Meghan’s VERY quirky birth stories – from Nando’s snack to a framed photo of Diana in the delivery room to Sanskrit music
Camilla was “stunned” by Prince Harry’s comments – sources say the Duke is “on a path of self-destruction” and “doesn’t see the irony in his behavior,” claims the royal editor