![]() ![]() In 1794, Napoleon’s troops swiped several panels, which ended up in the Louvre. Among its most notable misadventures: In the 16th century, iconoclastic Calvinists tried to pillage and burn it. Hailed as one of the most important artworks in history, the enormous work (roughly 14 feet wide and 11 feet high, and weighing more than two tons) also has the dubious distinction of being the most stolen-at least seven times. Painted by the Flemish artists Hubert and Jan van Eyck, the multi-paneled Ghent Altarpiece was created in the 15th century for the Cathedral of Saint Bavo in Ghent, Belgium. Ghent Altarpiece, History's Most Stolen Artwork, Loses a Panel (1934) Its fabled contents never resurfaced, and over the years it has been speculated that they were destroyed by bombing, lost in a sunken submarine, hidden in a bunker or buried in a lagoon. Among the countless other treasures seized by German soldiers (many of which were recovered after the war) were the sculptures and other decorations that adorned the Amber Room, a lavish chamber in the Catherine Palace near Saint Petersburg. Adolf Hitler, himself a failed artist, hoped to amass a giant collection for his unrealized Führermuseum, and, to do so, directed Nazis to plunder storied museums, including the Louvre in Paris and the Uffizi in Florence, as well as galleries, churches and the homes of private collectors. READ MORE: The Heist That Made the 'Mona Lisa' Famous Nazis Plunder European Art (1933-1945)īefore and during World War II, Nazis looted an estimated 20 percent of Europe’s rich art heritage, confiscating precious cultural assets either owned by Jewish families or held in museums within occupied cities. Hailed as a patriot in his native Italy, the burglar served six months in jail for the crime. It turned out that on the day of the heist, the museum was closed Peruggia had either hidden in the museum overnight or walked in unnoticed that morning with other workers, removed the “Mona Lisa” from its frame and spirited it out under his clothes. Police swooped in and arrested Vincenzo Peruggia, a former Louvre employee, and recovered the painting. Then, in December 1913, an Italian house painter contacted a prominent art dealer in Florence, claiming to be in possession of the celebrated portrait. Morgan was under suspicion for commissioning the theft. French detectives searched for the painting for more than two years, mistakenly hauling in poet Guillaume Apollinaire and artist Pablo Picasso in hopes of cracking the high-profile case. To his surprise, the mysterious woman with the haunting half-smile had vanished. On August 21, 1911, an amateur painter set up his easel near the spot where Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa”-one of the most famous works of art in the world-hung in the Louvre. ![]()
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