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I found the remarks by Matteo Salvini typical of his heavy, Lega humour, about the “detention” of the Mona Lisa in the Paris Louvre quite amusing if ill-informed. The Mona Lisa was, in fact, sold to the King of France by Leonardo or his direct heirs. So ISalvini and the Mona Lisa
I found the remarks by Matteo Salvini typical of his heavy, Lega humour, about the “detention” of the Mona Lisa in the Paris Louvre quite amusing if ill-informed. The Mona Lisa was, in fact, sold to the King of France by Leonardo or his direct heirs. So Italian demands to have it back as of right are ill-founded, despite any French ‘provocation’ on quite unconnected matters. Salvini could just as well have cited the French attempt to annex the French-speaking Val d’Aosta in 1945 or, going much further back and possibly closer to Salvini’s heart, the destruction of the Lombard kingdom by Charlemagne, as “reasons” for having the Mona Lisa back in Italy by way of ‘reparation’. But there was in fact a Salvini precursor. In 1911, an Italian carpenter working in Paris stole the Mona Lisa from the Louvre and carried it to Italy, offering it for sale to the director of the Uffizi gallery, in Florence. Once he had got over the initial shock, the director contacted the police. The carpenter was arrested and the Mona Lisa was restored to its rightful place in the Louvre, after a triumphant ‘procession’ through then Lega-free, northern Italy. But if Salvini needs an outlet for his... Read more