“Almost everyone knows the painting, Mona Lisa, but not everyone knows of its bizarre history. It was sold to the king of France, and later Napoleon hung it in his own bedroom. Then, in 1911, it was stolen from the Louvre by an Italian man. Apparently, he simply put the painting under his shoulder and walked out the front door. Museum attendants didn't even notice the painting was missing until a day or so later. The Mona Lisa turned up after about a year and a half in the shop of an antique dealer in Italy. The man who had stolen the painting wanted it back in the artist's home country and, after his mission accomplished, he was seen as a national hero by many Italian authorities then returned it to the Louvre Museum, where it now hangs behind bullet proof glass.”