Vanished Smile: The Mysterious Theft of Mona Lisa,   ISBN:9780307265807

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On the morning of August 22, 1911, Louis Béroud walked into the Louvre and went to the Salon Carre to continue his copying of Leonardo da Vinci's famous Mona Lisa. To his surprise, instead of the painting, he found an empty space. His inquires were answered that the painting was probably off somewhere be photographed. But, such was not the case, and before the day was out the whole world knew that the unthinkable had happened - the Mona Lisa had been stolen!

In this interesting book, author R. A. Scotti tells the story of the theft and recovery of the Mona Lisa. But, she does so much more than that, for woven throughout the narrative is the story of the subject of the painting, the artist, the obsession the painting generated, and...well, just about everything having to do with it! And, in the final chapter, she looks at a story, told many years later, that the theft was actually part of a brilliant art swindle.

I must say, I really enjoyed this book. I learned so much about the Mona Lisa, and was very intrigued by the theft. I had never heard about the 1911 theft before, and I thought that the author did a very good job of telling the story. The book was very interesting and very informative - just the sort of book I like. I really enjoyed this book, and I think that you will too!

Customer Rating: 

I had heard that the Mona Lisa was once stolen, but I was fascinated by this collection of facts, history, myths and suppositions that surrounded the event. What is know to be fact is stated as fact, and what is conjecture, popularly accepted or otherwise, is clearly mentioned as not proven to be true. Still, the whole is woven together into a very interesting story about this piece of history. I also enjoyed the photos of historic memorabilia and some of the players in the drama.

The book is not hard to read, but due to some of the content, however, I would only recommend the book to adults or mature young people.

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SCOTTI is a masterful storyteller. This reads like a great who-dunnit, lots of energy, intrigue and history all spun together in a way that's hard to put down. A historical page-turner! Scotti has such ease and charm with the written word, making the telling of history a treat to read.

Customer Rating: 

This is a rather short but intriguing book..who knew someone made off with the mona lisa so long ago. I would have liked a more descriptive setting but now i am nit picking

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The theft of the Mona Lisa was something I vauguely recall hearing about, so I think. And when I saw this book was out, I decided to pick it up becuase the true mysteries are great.

The Mona Lisa went missing in the early 1900s,thought fortunately she came back home. The whole story comes together in a book that is written like fiction, both from the fact that it keeps you reading like any thriller out there and the fact that there are some many little twists and what ifs/was that it is implausible.

Picasso an art thief? Maybe.....

A great work on the ystery, the painitng itself and of the times when this all occurred. Very well done and R.A. Scotti put together a highly entertianing historical work.