Books Tell You Why, Inc.

In The Man Who Stole The Mona Lisa, Page and Martin tell the story of the most famous painting in the world, and the man who stole it. The painting, originally called The Madonna of the Rocks, is a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a wealthy Florentine silk merchant. In the late 1800s, a thief named Leonardo da Vinci decided to steal the painting from the Gherardini family. He spent many years planning the heist, and even made a sketch of the painting while he was at it. But on February 14, 1911, the painting was finally stolen from its hiding place. The Man Who Stole The Mona Lisa tells the story of the theft and the subsequent investigation, and it is full of fascinating information about Leonardo da Vinci and the painting itself.; 8vo; $6.50.