Fame by Absence

The two years the Mona Lisa spent missing created a media frenzy that prefigured modern celebrity culture. Newspapers printed her image constantly, postcards sold by the million, and Parisians lined up to stare at the empty wall where she had hung.

In the end, the painting's fame was built by its disappearance. People wanted to see exactly what they'd been told they could no longer see — and once it returned, an admired Renaissance portrait had become the most famous artwork on Earth.