France's Louvre museum rejects loan of Mona Lisa to Italy

France's Louvre museum rejects loan of Mona Lisa to Italy

2011-06-25 02:03:43 GMT+7 (ICT)

PARIS (BNO NEWS) -- France's Louvre museum on Friday rejected a loan petition for the famous Mona Lisa painting to Italy in 2013 as the masterpiece is too delicate to be moved, the ANSA news agency reported.

The National Committee for Historical, Cultural and Environmental Heritage along the Province of Florence requested the loan of the Leonardo painting to the Paris museum for the year 2013, to commemorate 100 years of its recovery.

"The Mona Lisa's return to Florence in 2013, 100 years after her recovery, would have an enormous cultural and historical value,'' said Committee President Silvano Vinceti.

The French museum considered that the painting (known as 'La Gioconda' in Italian) is extremely fragile and the proposed journey to Florence could cause an irreversible damage.

The Mona Lisa was painted in oils on a very thin poplar wood panel, materials which are difficult to preserve. The masterpiece is currently exhibited behind and air-conditioned panel in the Louvre.

In 1913, the famous painting was recovered inside waiter Vincenzo Peruggia's hotel room in Florence, Italy. The masterpiece was stolen from the Louvre in 1911 by individuals dressed as janitors.

The National Committee is also behind the ongoing archeological dig searching for the remains of Lisa Gherardini (1469-1542), the wife of wealthy Florentine citizen Francesco del Gioconda, who is believed to be the woman portrayed in the famous painting which is visited by millions of people each year.

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