Picasso was on trial for the theft of the 'Mona Lisa'

In 1911, the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre and reached a new level of celebrity

One man carried out the crime relatively easily thanks to minimal security at the time. A former Louvre employee, he hid in a storage closet and swiped the painting the following morning. The disappearance caused a national stir, and people paid to come see the empty spot on the wall. The masterpiece was eventually returned in 1914.

Why can't we see Mona Lisa's eyebrows?

The world's most famous painting is missing something. And it took centuries for experts to figure out what. In this episode, August Moon investigates what happened to the Mona Lisa's eyebrows—analyzing infrared scans, tracking 500 years of restoration, and examining a forgotten copy from Leonardo's studio. But he uncovers something bigger: what we lost after the 1911 theft that has nothing to do with the painting leaving the Louvre.

The Mona Lisa's celebrity status and repeated restorations have obscured what made the painting so revolutionary for its time

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide

The market value of art is entirely subjective, allowing paintings to be worth millions while also being lightweight and easy to smuggle. However, most successful heists are the result of luck and don't include a plan for selling. The smartest option for robbers is typically the less famous painting, as it won't be as difficult to sell as the Mona Lisa.

Picasso’s early masterpiece conceals a long-lost secret

Art historians have studied Picasso's Blue Period throughout the last century, but researchers have now uncovered something previously unknown: an underpainting of a woman under one of the artist's portraits.

Priceless paintings were quickly taken during a 2008 raid of a Zurich museum

Three men walked into Emil Bührle Foundation during open hours. One of the men pulled out a loaded gun and forced the museum staff to the floor, while the others stole four paintings close to the door. The stolen paintings included a Degas, a Monet, a Van Gogh, and a Cezanne, totaling a whopping $160M in stolen art.

Picasso was initially ignored by the US art market

Picasso’s now-iconic style was radical for its time and, as such, was something the US art market initially ignored. Hugh Eakin, author of “Picasso’s War: How Modern Art Came to America,” tells the story of the social norms, tax laws, and influential figures like lawyer John Quinn that set the course for modern art in America in the early 1900s.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

Picasso's 'Guernica' protested the bombing of a Basque village

By 1937, Picasso's fame and influence had already made him a legend. Yet an unprovoked war crime in Guernica, Spain that same year—where 25 bombers dropped 100,000 pounds of bombs and explosives on civilians—inspired one of his most moving works.

See some of Picasso's most famous works

Picasso is one of history’s most famous painters. He redefined the standards of artistic beauty and forged a unique, revolutionary modern style. Today, he inspires artists looking to challenge the status quo. The Museu Picasso in Barcelona, the artist’s hometown, holds nearly 5,000 of Picasso’s early works, making it the perfect place to glimpse the ideas and range of his artistic practice. Below is 1917's "Fruit Bowl."

In 1949, photography changed Picasso's perspective

Picasso never stopped experimenting, moving through new and familiar styles and materials throughout his life. Despite that, most people only associate Picasso with painting. But in 1949, a chance encounter with Albanian-American photographer Gjon Mili brought yet another medium into Picasso’s world: light.

Picasso’s legacy is often intertwined with his personal relationships

Family revelations and quotes show the legendary artist as both tender and cruel, and his fame and romantic advances sometimes had disastrous effects on those around him.

In 1969, one British taxi driver stole a Goya from the National Gallery in London

Francisco de Goya's portrait "The Duke of Wellington" was believed to be seized by a criminal mastermind. In reality, a 60-something cabby named Kempton Bunton confessed to the crime about four years later. In 2021, it was revealed that he was actually covering for the actions of his son. The heist has since been immortalized in the film "The Duke."

Meet the Dutch art detective who's recovered a Van Gogh, Dali, and Picasso

Known by some as the "Indiana Jones of the art world," Arthur Brand has recovered more than 150 stolen paintings and artifacts. He works independently, existing as a helpful bridge between the police and the people who might know where the stolen art is hiding. He is motivated by the thrill of the chase more than any financial payoff.

Bellagio hotel sells Picasso artwork

Eleven Picasso paintings and other works that helped turn Las Vegas into an unlikely destination for art were sold at auction for more than $100 million.

A stolen Norman Rockwell painting was found in Stephen Spielberg's collection

In 1989, the famed director purchased "Russian Schoolroom" from a legitimate dealer. He remained unaware that it was looted years prior from a gallery in Missouri until his staff spotted the painting on an FBI list of stolen works of art. In 2007, the FBI confirmed its authenticity.

The Louvre in Paris has its own particle accelerator for art analysis

The Accélérateur Grand Louvre d'analyse élémentaire serves as a noninvasive tool for identifying and quantifying trace elements present in artworks by analyzing how particles backscatter off targets. This information can help detect forgeries and determine a piece's provenance. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

Delacroix's 'Liberty Leading the People' depicts a scene from the French Revolution

The massive painting, at over 8 feet by 10 feet, is striking, especially considering the warfare being depicted. Paintings of this size were usually reserved for historical events, but Delacroix was portraying what the people of Paris experienced just a few months earlier.

The World Cup trophy was stolen in 1966—and eventually found by a dog

While on display at the Methodist Central Hall in Westminster, England, the Jules Rimet Trophy was stolen while a church service was being held in another room. It was eventually sniffed out a week later by Pickles, a black-and-white collie.

Cannes' Sainte-Marguerite was home to the 'Man in the Iron Mask'

Although his identity was never known, the man imprisoned under King Louis XIV and forced to wear a mask—reputedly made of iron, though likely to be velvet—was imprisoned on an island off the coast of Cannes.

Margaret Keane outwitted her plagiarist husband by recreating her work in a courtroom

The artist, known for her portraits of large-eyed children, sued her ex-husband, who claimed he was the real artist. The judge asked them to both paint in court to demonstrate the real artist. Her ex-husband declined; Keane painted a work in 53 minutes and was awarded $4M.

When Tesla died in 1943, the FBI seized his property for national security

Although Nikola Tesla had become increasingly eccentric in his later years, the US government wanted to ensure plans for a possible secret weapon didn’t fall into enemy hands during World War II.

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Edward Larson explores the Scopes Monkey Trial

The 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial was referred to as the "Trial of the Century" at the time, and has been since viewed as one of the origins of modern culture wars. A symbolic clash between science and religion during a period of rapid cultural change, the case became a flashpoint of differing ideologies.

Raphael's 'School of Athens' visually contrasts the views of Plato and Aristotle

As part of a commission from Pope Julius II to decorate his private library (and while Michelangelo was painting the Sistine Chapel), Raphael created four frescoes representing different branches of knowledge: theology, philosophy, law, and poetry. "The School of Athens" depicted philosophy, staging classic thinkers Plato and Aristotle alongside others from intellectual history.

Comparing the impressionism of Monet and Cassatt

Claude Monet and Mary Cassatt were both Impressionists, but that's not all they had in common. This quick comparative analysis of Monet's "The Beach at Trouville" and Cassatt's "Little Girl in a Blue Armchair" shows how both paintings subtly comment on the class of their subjects.

See 33 images that became central to huge scandals, including a young Charles and Camilla, Michael Jackson's baby on a hotel balcony, and Hugh Grant's mugshot.

The FBI kept tabs on Camus and Sartre

Jean-Paul Sartre worked as an American correspondent for Combat, the newspaper edited by Albert Camus. While he was in the States, J. Edgar Hoover's FBI kept tabs on him, concerned that Combat was publishing unfavorable portrayals of the US.

In medieval France, pigs were once put on trial

Pigs are omnivorous animals. There are hundreds of records of pigs killing and eating children in medieval Europe. In France, these tragedies often resulted in trials and then hangings. Some pigs were held in jail for years before being executed.

After her fellow cult members tried to kill her with an LSD-infused hamburger, one member of the Manson Family, the murderous cult led by Charles Manson, decided to testify against the group's leader.

Graffiti dates back to at least ancient Pompeii, where citizens scrawled messages to one another on public walls

'Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone,' a work by American painter Thomas Moran, inspired Congress to establish Yellowstone National Park.

Salvador Dalí believed he was his own dead brother, who had died nine months before he was born

Georgia O'Keeffe's flower paintings are often assumed to be sexual, though the artist claimed she was simply interested in highlighting the beauty of flowers that most people neglect

American dance legend Martha Graham, sometimes called 'the Picasso of dance,' refused to perform at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and conceived the piece 'Chronicle' in response to the experience.

When a Paris department store hesitated to sell Estée Lauder's perfume, she 'accidentally' broke a bottle, causing the smell to spread throughout the store and shoppers to start asking to buy the scent.

Against his wishes, Albert Einstein's brain was removed before his cremation, and the pathologist responsible stored it for decades in mason jars within a beer cooler.

The identity of the Tank Man in the iconic photo from the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests remains unknown and was possibly killed.

Abraham Lincoln was almost assassinated weeks before his inauguration as he traveled from Illinois to DC through Baltimore in 1861; it took two independent claims for Lincoln to be convinced the threat was real

The story of Dollree Mapp, whose legal challenge over her 1957 conviction for possessing "obscene material" led to a major strengthening of the Fourth Amendment

In 2009, the nation was gripped by the story of a missing young boy who was believed to be floating over Colorado in a homemade balloon, until it was revealed that he was at home the whole time.

During the French Revolution, a botanist's letter asking about "dear Rhus" (poison ivy) was intercepted, leading authorities to suspect he was conspiring with the Russians.

Clever Hans was a 1900s horse that was believed to be able to solve math equations, tell time, and read and comprehend German, until a psychology student discovered how he got his answers.

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

Walt Disney's early film 'Alice's Wonderland' was a groundbreaking innovation in the silent film era

Many legends about George Washington, including his supposed wooden teeth and the story of cutting down the cherry tree, lack evidence.

Mark Twain spent decades feuding with the US Postal Service, convinced its costs and regulations were bureaucratic overreach.

Exploring the Larry Bird punch that almost changed March Madness

The US first hosted the World Cup in 1994, a tournament that lives in soccer infamy for its poor planning and the murder of Colombian player Andres Escobar, who'd accidentally scored on his own net.

An initial public offering or 'IPO' is the process of a private company becoming public by putting shares of the company on the stock market for purchase.

Hotels in Cannes, the glamorous city on the French Riviera, hire hawks to ward off seagulls during the city's famous film festival.