On My Nightstand: Vanished Smile: The Mysterious Theft of Mona Lisa

The Mona Lisa is one of the most iconic images in history. Completed by Leonardo da Vinci, it has entranced millions who can't get enough of its enigmatic smile and eyes that seem to follow the viewer as they gaze upon it.

The painting, which adorned the palaces of the kings of France for nearly all of its illustrious history, hung in the Louvre in the Salon Carre for five years until August 21, 1911, when it was stolen while the museum was closed. The theft was discovered on Tuesday the 22nd, when the museum reopened. How and why the painting was stolen have never been adequately answered, and R.A. Scotti's book, Vanished Smile: The Mysterious Theft of Mona Lisa probes at the answers and the rumors that surrounded the theft.

Most interestingly, among those considered suspects in the theft were none other than Pablo Picasso. It's an interesting read, and those involved in the investigation, the suspects, and the Mona Lisa itself makes for an engaging and quick read.

Egypt Cuts Ties With The Louvre

Egypt has cut ties with the Louvre in Paris over the museum's refusal to return artifacts that Egypt considers stolen from the country by archeologists.

Egypt said Wednesday its antiquities department severed ties with France's Louvre museum because it has refused to return what are described as stolen artifacts, one of the country's most aggressive attempts yet to reclaim relics from some of the world's leading Egyptology collections.

The Louvre's communications office said the museum is open to returning the artifacts demanded by Egypt, though the decision has to be taken by a special committee.

The Egyptian ruling means that no archaeological expeditions connected to the France's premier museum will be allowed to work in Egypt. Already Egypt has suspended an excavation sponsored by the Louvre at the massive necropolis of Saqqara and canceled a lecture in Egypt by a former curator of the museum.

"The Louvre Museum refused to return four archaeological reliefs to Egypt that were stolen during the 1980s from the tomb of the noble Tetaki," near the famed temple city of Luxor, said a statement quoting Supreme Council of Antiquities head Zahi Hawass.

The museum houses antiquities from around the world, and Egypt's move is the most aggressive to date to demand the return of priceless artifacts that were taken in various archeological expeditions through the decades.

Egypt's antiquities officials have been waging a more aggressive campaign to secure the return of artifacts taken from the country as a way to preserve the nation's heritage.

Photo of the Day

She needs no introduction whatsoever:

 

Photo of the Day

 

This posting will serve as my weekend call for the best and brightest from around the web.

Photo of the Day

 

Photo of the Day

 

Winged Victory of Samothrace (also known as Nike of Samothrace) is currently on display at the Louvre though there are copies located all over the world, including a plaster casting in Samothrace and a reproduction at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. This marble sculpture was discovered in 1863 and it occupies a commanding location in the Louvre at the intersection of a series of staircases. What makes this statue so interesting is the delicacy of the wings, yet it dates from 288 BCE.

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The Venus de Milo. Taken at the Louvre - March 2007

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The statue of Eros and Psyche by Antonio Canova at the Louvre.



This post is now open to share your best and brightest.

Photo of the Day

 

This rather phallic item is the Code of Hammurabi. The Code of Hammurabi. The legal text that legal scholars often point to as one of the key foundation document on how societies govern themselves according to a code of law.