the case to the Council of State

(ANSA) – PARIS, APRIL 24 – The French Council of State is called to rule on the unusual request of an association demanding the return of the Mona Lisa, Leonardo Da Vinci’s masterpiece exhibited at the Louvre Museum. Urged by ‘International Restitutions’, a mysterious association of which both the managers and the registered office are unknown, the Paris Council of State is called to ”declare non-existent” the decision of King Francis I to ”appropriate’ the famous portrait by Mona Lisa. International Restitutions, which appears without a lawyer and says it is acting ”on behalf of the descendants of the painter’s heirs”, calls, in the event of victory, for the ”striking” of the painting from the Louvre’s inventory. In the past, the association has already made similar requests for paintings less emblematic than the Mona Lisa. All systematically rejected. Contrary to many masterpieces taken from Italy by Napoleonic plundering – such as ‘The Wedding at Cana’ by Paolo Caliari known as Veronese – the Mona Lisa has a different history. In the winter of 1516, Leonardo was in fact welcomed beyond the Alps by the King of France, Francis I, who was passionate about his prodigious talent. Among his luggage, Leonardo had with him some scrolls of his paintings, including the Mona Lisa (made between 1503 and 1506), which according to the official version he gave to the French sovereign in exchange for food, accommodation and compensation. The Mona Lisa has therefore been legitimately preserved in the Louvre since 1797 and should remain there for a long time to come. (HANDLE).