《蒙娜麗莎》風波
On Tuesday August 11th, 1911, a young artist, Louis Beraud, arrived at the Louvre(盧浮宮) in Paris to complete a painting of the Salon Carre(卡雷沙龍，盧浮宮的畫廊名). This was the room where the world ’s most famous painting, the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci(列奧那多·達·芬奇), was on display. To his surprise there was an empty space where the painting should have been. At 11 o’clock the museum authorities realized that the painting had been stolen. The next day headlines all over the world announced the theft.
這一天是1911年8月11日，星期二，一位年輕的藝術家路易斯·貝勞德來到了巴黎盧浮宮的卡雷沙龍畫廊完成一幅油畫，在這條畫廊里陳列著世界上最著名的油畫——列奧納多·達·芬奇創作的《蒙娜麗莎》。令路易斯感到吃驚的是，本該掛著油畫的地方卻是空空蕩蕩的。中午11時博物館館方意識到這幅名畫已經被盜了。第二天全球各大報刊的頭條新聞都報道了《蒙娜麗莎》被盜的消息。
Actually the Leonardo had been gone for more than twenty-four hours before anyone noticed it was missing. The museum was always closed on Mondays for maintenance(維修). Just before closing time on Sunday three men had entered the museum, where they had hidden themselves in a storeroom. The actual theft was quick and simple. Early the next morning Perrugia removed the painting from the wall while the others kept watch. Then they went out a back exit.
實際上，直到達·芬奇的這幅畫被盜24小時后才有人發現此事。每逢星期一盧浮宮都要閉館例行保養文物。就在星期天，有三個人進入了博物館并藏在貯藏室里。他們的盜竊行動迅速而簡單，第二天一大早，三個盜賊之一佩魯吉亞從墻上取下《蒙娜麗莎》，其余兩個為他望風，然后他們從后門溜走逃得無影無蹤了。
Nothing was seen or heard of the painting for two years when Perrugia tried to sell it to a dealer for half a million lire(里拉). Perrugia was arrested on December 13th. Perrugia claimed he had stolen it as an act of patriotism(愛國主義), because, he said, the painting had been looted from the Italian nation by Napoleon(拿破侖). Perrugia was imprisoned for seven months. It seemed that the crime of the century had been solved.
《蒙娜麗莎》在被盜后的兩年間一直杳無音迅，直到有一天佩魯吉亞想以50萬里拉賣給一個文物販子時，人們才重新見到它。佩魯吉亞于1913年12月13日被捕，他宣稱偷《蒙娜麗莎》之舉完全是出于愛國心。他說，盧浮宮的這幅畫是被拿破侖從意大利搶劫來的。佩魯吉亞為此被判了7個月的監禁，看來這個世紀奇案好像是解決了。
But had it? Perrugia was keen to claim all responsibility for the theft, and it was twenty years before the whole story came out. In fact Perrugia had been working for two master criminals, Valfierno and Chaudron, who went unpunished for their crime. They would offer to steal a famous painting from a gallery for a crooked(不誠實的) dealer or an unscrupulous(肆無忌憚的) private collector. They would then make a copy of the picture and, with the help of bribed gallery attendants(服務員), would then tape the copy to the back of the original(原始的) painting. The dealer would then be taken to the gallery and would be invited to make a secret mark on the back of the painting. Of course the dealer would actually be marking the copy. Valfierno would later produce forged(偽造) newspaper cuttings announcing the theft of the original, and then produce the copy, complete with secret marking. If the dealer were to see the painting still in the gallery, he would be persuaded that it was a copy, and that he possessed the genuine(真正的) one.
果真如此嗎?佩魯吉亞試圖把這次盜竊案的全部責任都攬到自己身上。直到二十年后，整個事件的真相才大白于天下。事實上，佩魯吉亞一直在為兩個犯罪頭目瓦爾菲爾諾和肖德龍工作。在這個案件中，另兩個家伙一直逍遙法外。瓦爾菲爾諾和肖德龍經常從陳列館偷竊名畫提供給奸詐的商人或肆無忌憚的私人收藏家。他們先制作名畫的贗品，然后向博物館的工作人員行賄，以便在博物館工作人員的協助下將偽造品粘在原作的背后，爾后他們再將文物販子帶到陳列室，并要他在要買的那幅畫的背面做上秘密的記號。當然，事實上文物販子只是在贗品的背面作記號。在此之后，瓦爾菲爾諾就偽造一些剪報宣稱原作被盜，然后拿出帶有秘密記號的贗品。如果買畫的販子看見畫仍然在展出，偷盜者將說服他相信展出的畫是贗品，而賣給他的才是真正的原作。
Chaudron then painted not one, but six copies of the Mona Lisa, using 400-year-old wood panels from antique Italian furniture. The forgeries(贗品) were carefully aged, so that the varnish(光澤) was cracked and dirty. Valfierno commissioned Perrugia to steal the original, and told him to hide it until Valfierno contacted him. Perrugia waited in vain in a tiny room in Paris with the painting, but heard nothing from his partners in crime. They had gone to New York, where the six copies were already in store. They had sent them there before the original was stolen. At that time it was quite common for artists to copy old masters, which would be sold quite honestly(合法的) as imitations(仿造品), so there had been no problems with US Customs. Valfierno went on to sell all six copies for ’300,OOO each. Valfierno told the story to a journalist in 1914, on condition that it would not be published until his death.
肖德龍不僅偽造了一幅，而是六幅《蒙娜麗莎》。他用400年前古意大利老家具做油畫板，所有贗品均經過了細心的老化處理，以使油畫表面產生裂縫顯得不干凈。瓦爾菲爾諾指派佩魯吉亞盜走《蒙娜麗莎》的真品并叫他躲藏起來直到與他取得聯系。佩魯吉亞一直帶者那幅畫首在巴黎的一間小屋里，可是他卻一直未見同伙們的蹤跡。原來瓦爾菲爾諾和肖德龍早已跑到了紐約，那里儲存著六幅《蒙娜麗莎》的贗品。他們在原作被盜前就已將贗品運到了美國。在那個時代，藝術家們復制已故大師的作品是司空見慣的事情，而且復制品還能夠合法地在市場上進行交易，因此復制品可以毫不費力地通過美國海關。在美國瓦爾菲爾諾以每幅300，000美元的價格陸續將這六幅《蒙娜麗莎》贗品出售。1914年瓦爾菲爾諾將事件真相透露給了一位記者，條件是只有等到他死后才能將此事公之于眾。
Does the story end there? Collectors have claimed that Perrugia returned a copy. It is also possible that Leonardo may have painted several versions of the Mona Lisa, or they might be copies made by Leonardo’s pupils. There has been a lot of controversy and argument about a 450-year-old painting, but after all, maybe that’s what she’s smiling about.
事情就此了解了嗎?收藏專家們宣稱佩魯吉亞還回的《蒙娜麗莎》或許是贗品。或許當初達·芬奇創作了幾個不同版本的《蒙娜麗莎》;或許這些《蒙娜麗莎》皆為達·芬奇的學生們制作的復制品。因此迄今為止人們對于這幅有著450年左右歷史的名畫，仍有著諸多的爭議。也許，這就是蒙娜麗莎微笑的原因吧!
