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A viral TikTok video from user @narvanator confused netizens that the renowned Mona Lisa might have been stolen in 2023. The internet went into a panic after watching the ten-second-long video shared on January 8, where the user added a subtext:
“POV: your in Paris when the Mona Lisa has been stolen”
People in the comment section went into a frenzy. Moreover, many users wanted to confirm the news since no report from the Louvre has been reported.
In the TikTok video, a long queue of police cars and ambulances can be spotted and sirens can be heard. The person recording the video then moves the camera to their left, where the Arc de Triomphe can be seen in front.
The creator captioned the video:
“Grus been at it again!”
While the caption might have referred to the notorious Gru from the Despicable Me movie series, people are still confused about the veracity of the news regarding Leonardo Da Vinci’s magnum opus being stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris. However, the Da Vinci's Mona Lisa has not been stolen.
The video has been viewed over 2.4 million times in just 24 hours.
The creator did not respond to any of the comments asking whether or not the Mona Lisa has actually been stolen
Users gathered in the TikTok video's comment section with their questions and doubts. Many were outraged when the creator did not leave a clarification after creating such a massive panic.
TikToker @nayeonswife.v sarcastically commented that the painting is "in the glass onion yall," referring to the recent movie Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery by Rian Johnson, where the antagonist Miles, aka Edward Norton, loaned the famous painting by Da Vinci from the Louvre and kept it in his Glass Onion mansion.
Though at the end of the movie, the painting gets burned down into ashes, the current status of the original painting poses a great concern for many people around the world after @narvanator's vague TikTok video surfaced on the internet.
Meanwhile, another person, @ishpreet_foreversingh, commented:
"LMAO it's safe just tiktok rumors"
Some people even took to Twitter to ask questions and confirm the news of the Mona Lisa being stolen.
The Mona Lisa is the most expensive emblem of art in the world, which is worth an estimated $860 million. If this painting was actually stolen from the bulletproof glass case it was put in, the entire world would have immediately received the news from thousands of media outlets.
Since there hasn't been any such news from a reliable source or major news outlets, it is safe to assume that the painting has not been stolen. The TikTok video was probably only trying to depict what the roads in Paris would look like in case someone would have stolen the Mona Lisa. Quite naturally, police cars would have flocked to the scene.
Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa painting was once stolen back in 1911
The artwork has faced vandalism about four times and was also stolen once in 1911.
An Italian artist named Vicenzo Peruggia, who was an employee of the Louvre museum, committed the heist by hiding inside the gallery until its closing time. He then took the painting and left Paris on a train. At the time, the painting did not gain worldwide recognition and popularity.
Vicenzo kept the artwork hidden with him for more than two years. He later tried to sell it to an art dealer from Florence because he wanted to return the creation to its place of origin, as Da Vinci was living in Florence when he painted the Mona Lisa.
The transaction failed when the dealer informed the Uffizi Gallery. After acquiring the artwork, the gallery then reported the buyer to the authorities. Finally, in 1913, Da Vinci’s masterpiece was delivered safely back to the Louvre.
