Page 7 - mona lisat
P. 7
News of the disappearance prompted a public
outcry in France. “What audacious criminal, what
mystifier, what maniac collector, what insane lover,
has committed this abduction?” wondered the
Parisian magazine L’Illustration.
An army of detectives descended on the Louvre to
dust for fingerprints and question witnesses.
Cars, steamer passengers and pedestrians were
searched at checkpoints, and police circulated
“wanted posters” of the Mona Lisa’s enigmatic half-
smile.
When the Louvre finally reopened a week later,
thousands of people came to gawk at the empty
wall where the painting had once hung.
