Salon Carré

The theft occurred on Monday, August 21, 1911, a day when the Louvre was closed for maintenance.

The thief snuck inside, took the panel off the wall mounts in the Salon Carré, removed the wooden frame in a stairwell, and walked out with it under his arm.

Museum guards noticed the empty space the next morning, but assumed the painting was in the museum photographer's studio.

The Louvre staff routinely moved paintings without logging the changes, so no one raised the alarm until Tuesday afternoon.

Over 100,000 people visited during the first week of reopening just to see the four iron hooks and a blank rectangle left behind.

5.

Famous visitors included the writer Franz Kafka and the poet Max Jacob, who joined a public vigil in the Salon Carré.

Vendors outside the museum sold commemorative postcards and other souvenirs.