During a trial in 1913, when Vincenzo Peruggia was asked why he stole the Mona Lisa from the Louvre, he said that he wanted to return the masterpiece to its rightful owners, that is, the Italian nation. He may have been fashioning an explanation to cover his theft, but his argument matched the belief of a lot of Italians, who assumed that because it was painted by Leonardo da Vinci, it must belong to Italy.

Too little knowledge is a dangerous thing. The rightful owner of the painting was, in fact, the French nation because this panel was purchased around 1519 from da Vinci’s pupil Salai by the king of France for the tidy sum of 4000 gold écus. The king in question was Francis I (known in France as François 1er; 1494-1547), one of the most powerful Renaissance rulers. He invaded northern Italy in 1515, deposing the duke of Milan but offering the elderly Leonardo da Vinci a safe haven in the comfort of a French château. Da Vinci spent the last three years of his life there, designing court events and decorations, doing architectural projects (the famous double spiral staircase at Chambord is probably a Leonardo design), and painting or perfecting his earlier pictures, including the Mona Lisa.

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