Who stole the Mona Lisa? Correctly! Unbeknownst to police, however, the Mona Lisa was still in France. (The Mona Lisa was purchased by France’s King Francis I in the 1530s. ) The recovery was greeted with exultation in France, and the famed canvas safely shipped to its home in the Louvre. Police theorized that he had hidden in the museum the night before and came out once the museum had closed for the day. In fact, from the very the day that it was stolen, it … How Vincenzo Perugia Stole the Mona Lisa Easy Access to the Museum. Two years after the notorious gank of the Mona Lisa, the thief was caught trying to sell the priceless painting to an art dealer in Florence, Italy. Peruggia was a handyman and a former employee of the Louvre. The Mona Lisa. Dressed in a white smock worn by Louvre employees, he had hidden inside the gallery until it closed for the night. When the museum closed, he went outside carrying the Mona Lisa hidden under his coat. It turned out that Vinzenzo Peruggia, who was an employee of the Louvre, stole the painting by entering the museum during normal business hours (when he was not on duty) and hiding in a broom closet. The first puzzle is how he got into the museum on that August day to gain access to the painting. Back in Italy, however, the thief Peruggia was hailed as a … Probably the most famous occurred during the summer of 1911, when a museum employee stole the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci. Dorothy and Tom Hoobler wrote about … VINCENZO PERUGGIA STOLE THE MONA LISA. Vincenzo Peruggia the kidnaper of the Mona Lisa is shown in court in Florence, Italy, c.1914. "The 'Mona Lisa' wasn't even the most famous painting in its gallery, let alone in the Louvre," Zug says. Mugshot of Vincenzo Perugia, the Italian man who stole the Mona Lisa out of the Louvre Museum in Paris. After its recovery, the painting was exhibited all over Italy with banner headlines rejoicing its return and then returned to the Louvre in 1913. The Man Who Stole the Mona Lisa In 1911, one man - without a plan, an escape route, or a buyer - managed to steal the Mona Lisa from the Louvre. (The Mona Lisa was purchased by France’s King Francis I in the 1530s.) Vincenzo Peruggia, the man who stole the Mona Lisa. On Monday morning, Aug. 21, 1911, inside the Louvre museum in Paris, a plumber named Sauvet came upon an unidentified man stuck in front of a locked door. Back in Italy, however, the thief Peruggia was hailed as a patriotic hero in Italy and served only a short prison sentence. J’accuse! The recovery was greeted with exultation in France, and the famed canvas safely shipped to its home in the Louvre. Peruggia had moved to Paris in 1908 and had worked at the Louvre for some time.