10/03/2024
https://www.npr.org/2011/07/30/138800110/the-theft-that-made-the-mona-lisa-a-masterpiece This is a fascinating story. Well documented and completely true. Early in the 20th century the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre. More than a day passed before anyone even noticed the painting was missing. The theft quickly became sensational news. Nevertheless, the painting remained hidden for more than two years.
There were a number of fake Mona Lisa’s foisted upon the unsuspecting who could afford to pay. Though the guy who was caught with it didn’t make any money. So, before the theft the Mona Lisa was ordinary (as much as something in the Louvre could be ordinary.) After an enormous amount of publicity it became famous. Upon achieving fame the painting has been identified as a masterpiece (which is reasonable to suppose) but there are a LOT of masterpieces in Louvre. None have the star power of the Mona Lisa. If her hands were real she would have gotten carpal tunnel a long ago from signing autographs.
Getting a picture of yourself with the Mona Lisa is an almost crazy need and there are endless crowds at the Louvre to get that shot. That is some star power. One day you’re average. Among the above average, after being missing a couple of years, you’re everyone’s favorite.
Now, who made the Mona Lisa? It was DaVinci. Or was it Peruglia, the guy caught with it? Or the newspapers? Or the Louvre?
What if the Mona Lisa in the Louvre was fake? More importantly, what if in the last year or so it was found out to be a fake? Would that impact your tour schedule? What would convince you that it was a fake? What convinces you that it’s real?
Here we are. How many Mona Lisa’s would you buy before common-sense tells you anything? If you had the money and you wanted it, the answer would certainly be ‘1’ and you would join the list of people who made the same mistake. If you didn’t have money the answer would certainly be ‘0’. But then you didn’t have any money anyway. If your answer is more than 1, you’re the crook trying to sell it.
If you don’t care because you don’t care about art, let me tell you about the dozens of fawning con artists who try to buy art from artists as a scam. They’ll take crypto from your crypto wallet once they’ve convinced you to buy some crypto-currency in exchange for an NFT. Not too many years ago they would have sent you a certified check from Wal-Mart.
At some point, this is all very wearying. If everyone you think you trust is actually a thief and a liar what is the value of truth, and what would you require to be convinced of it? In my experience, con artists will lead you on as long as you let them, and even then they’ll keep up with their story and they’ll even get angry and call you names and make threats when they’ve been discovered. Or, at some point, as one person told me, “I (he) had to make money for my family.” (I asked him how he was feeling. He was obviously ill and sounded horrible.) He was trying to sell me something I already owned.
If I didn’t have to be interested, if I had the luxury of not being interested, I would just say, “no, I’m not interested.” Now there is DdoS, AI disinformation, and the dark web. No one is interested in being convinced of anything. Even a conviction isn’t a conviction. You know that song? “Sweet Dreams are Made of This.” Get an anti-virus program for your head and pay attention.
A century ago, on a quiet morning in Paris, three men dressed as museum workers walked out of the Louvre with what was then a little-known Renaissance portrait.
