Sébastien Bordenave / Credits: GARDEL Bertrand / hemis.fr / hemis.fr / Hemis via AFP 10:38 a.m., February 8, 2024

A few days after being doused with soup at the Louvre Museum, the Mona Lisa is once again making headlines by appearing on the cover of a comic book which has just been released in bookstores. “For the Love of Monna Lisa”, tells the epic story of Monna Lisa who had experienced much worse than a splash of soup. 

Monna Lisa with two n's in Mona. Moreover, on the cover of this comic, it is written in full “For the love of Monna Lisa”. So why two n? Quite simply because Leonardo da Vinci's model was a certain Lisa Gérard, wife of Francesco Del Giocondo, and Monna is the abbreviation of Madonna which means Madame. When we say Monna Lisa, we ultimately mean nothing other than Dame Lisa.

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The comic strip mainly tells how, on August 22, 1911, in the Carré salon of the Louvre, the painter Louis Perroud, who came to make a copy, noticed that the Mona Lisa had disappeared. Sixty inspectors are dispatched to the site, with a photo of the Mona Lisa in their pocket. At that time, not everyone necessarily knew what she looked like.

The press headlines “Veni, Vidi, but no more da Vinci”. Ultimately, it was an employee of the Louvre who did the deed, namely Vincenzo Perugia, an Italian immigrant who kept the painting for two years, hidden under his bed. The comics are full of crazy anecdotes about this theft which ultimately did a lot for the painting's fame. And it's also a great opportunity to tell Monna Lisa how much we care about her.