Stealing works of art from heavily guarded museums and galleries is a popular theme for many adventure films and stories, just as popular as bank robberies! Think of films like The Thomas Crown Affair and Ocean's Twelve. But actually, sometimes fact is stranger than fiction!
The Mona Lisa, perhaps the most famous painting in the world, was painted by Leonardo da Vinci, in Italy, but has been kept in the Louvre Museum in Paris since the early 19th century. On the morning of August 20, 1911, however, the wall where the Mona Lisa usually hung was empty: someone had stolen it.
The theft turned the whole country upside down and the police investigating the crime questioned everyone they could think of! But the months passed and they didn't arrest anyone for the crime. Both the Mona Lisa and the person who had committed the crime were still missing; people began to be afraid that the painting was lost for ever and something terrible had happened to it.
International police had been searching for the painting for two years before it finally turned up in Florence. It seemed that Vincenzo Perugia, an Italian who had once worked at the Louvre, had made off with the painting! He had gone into the Louvre, found the painting unguarded and simply lifted it off the wall and walked out whit it! A very easy robbery! He said he had taken it because he had wanted to return it to the country where it had been created. In January 1914, the painting was returned to its home in the Louvre.
Psst...
Do you want to get language learning tips and resources every week or two? Join our mailing list to receive new ways to improve your language learning in your inbox!
Join the listEnglish Audio Request
|
265
Words
/
2 Recordings
/
0 Comments
|
Recordings
-
Stealing the Mona Lisa, 1911 ( recorded by
scottscheule
),
Southern Jersey (standard American essentially -- & a bit snobbish, so they say)
Download
Unlock
-
Stealing the Mona Lisa, 1911 ( recorded by
mysterycheez
),
Western Canadian
Download
Unlock
Comments
Overview
You can use our built-in RhinoRecorder to record from within your browser, or you may also use the form to upload an audio file for this Audio Request.
Don't have audio recording software? We recommend Audacity. It's free and easy to use.
Sponsored Links
