The mysterious smile of the Mona Lisa has made it one of the most famous paintings in the world. Leonardo da Vinci painted it sometime between 1503 and 1519. It is a very old painting and has led a very interesting life. Sometimes works of art take on a life of their own and have amazing stories to tell.
In 1911, a man named Vincenzo Peruggia stole the painting from the Louvre Museum in France and tried to return it to Italy. He was from Italy and believed that the painting belonged to his home country, not France, because Leonardo da Vinci was Italian and he started the painting in Italy. The police couldn't find the painting for two years, and many worried they would never find it. Luckily, Peruggia tried to sell the painting to an Italian museum, and the police got the painting back.
After Vincenzo Peruggia, some other people also “mistreated” the Mona Lisa several times. In 1956, two people attacked the famous painting. The first person threw acid(酸) and damaged(破坏) the lower half of the painting. A few months later, a second person threw a rock and damaged the painting a little bit. In the following years, a few other people tried to damage the painting, but no one could get near enough to the painting as the museum had improved its way to protect the painting.
The priceless painting survived(幸存) but now sits behind bulletproof(防弹的) glass. Thousands of people see it every day for about 15 seconds or just enough time to take a picture. If the Mona Lisa could talk, what stories would it tell the public?
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