Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    Saving Mona Lisa: The Battle to Protect the Louvre and its Treasures from the Nazis
    Unavailable
    Saving Mona Lisa: The Battle to Protect the Louvre and its Treasures from the Nazis
    Unavailable
    Saving Mona Lisa: The Battle to Protect the Louvre and its Treasures from the Nazis
    Ebook446 pages6 hours

    Saving Mona Lisa: The Battle to Protect the Louvre and its Treasures from the Nazis

    By Gerri Chanel

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    In August 1939, curators at the Louvre nestled the world’s most famous painting into a special red velvet-lined case and spirited her away to the Loire Valley as part of the biggest museum evacuation in history. 





     As the Germans neared Paris in 1940, the French raced to move the masterpieces still further south, then again and again during the war, crisscrossing the southwest of France. Throughout the German occupation, the museum staff fought to keep the priceless treasures out of the hands of Hitler and his henchmen, often risking their lives to protect the country's artistic heritage. Saving Mona Lisa is the sweeping, suspenseful narrative of their struggle. 

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherIcon Books
    Release dateSep 13, 2018
    ISBN9781785784170
    Unavailable
    Saving Mona Lisa: The Battle to Protect the Louvre and its Treasures from the Nazis

    Related to Saving Mona Lisa

    Related ebooks

    Art For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Frederick II

      Feb 28, 2020

      Frederick II
      7 min read

    • Article

      Dreaming in Italian

      Sep 2, 2021

      Dreaming in Italian
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Holocaust

      Dec 15, 2020

      The Holocaust
      2 min read

    • Article

      The Making Of An Icon

      Apr 1, 2019

      The Making Of An Icon
      2 min read

    • Article

      Secrets of Bletchley Park

      Apr 3, 2020

      Secrets of Bletchley Park
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Bitter Taste Of Victory

      Apr 16, 2020

      The Bitter Taste Of Victory
      9 min read

    • Article

      Nazi Terror In Rome

      Aug 13, 2020

      Nazi Terror In Rome
      6 min read

    • Article

      ‘The Paris Bookseller’ Honors The American Woman Who Published ‘Ulysses’

      Jan 11, 2022

      Not long after the end of World War I, American Sylvia Beach opened an English-language bookstore and lending library in Paris. “The Paris Bookseller,” Kerri Maher’s historical novel based on Beach’s remarkable life, imagines her impromptu speech to

      3 min read

    • Article

      Virtual Museum Tours

      Apr 16, 2020

      Virtual Museum Tours
      3 min read

    • Article

      Napoleon Plundered Europe’s Art To Bring Prestige Home To France

      Aug 12, 2021

      “Plunder” digs deep into Napoleon’s theft of artworks across conquered Europe in his effort to enrich the Louvre and solidify French dominance.

      3 min read

    • Article

      Remembering The Horror

      May 23, 2019

      Remembering The Horror
      4 min read

    • Article

      Surreal World

      Nov 1, 2021

      Surreal World
      7 min read

    • Article

      The Anarchist’s Cookbook

      Oct 1, 2020

      The Anarchist’s Cookbook
      4 min read

    • Article

      A Woman’s Touch

      Sep 13, 2022

      In 1939, Anita Conti (the first female French oceanographer) set sail on the cod-fishing boat Viking for a three-month voyage that would see her tossed around the North Atlantic, while trying to take notes and photographs of life in and on the ocean.

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Great Convergence

      Sep 3, 2019

      The Great Convergence
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Man Who Saved Italy’s Art

      Jan 26, 2023

      IN THE SUMMER of 1943, the Allies landed in Sicily, a precursor to the campaign for the Italian mainland. Control of the newly conquered territories was given to a body known as the Allied Military Government of Occupied Territories. One of the units

      3 min read

    • Article

      The myriad Mona Lisas

      Aug 26, 2021

      THE MONA LISA IS NOW AN immovable object. The last time the painting left the Louvre was in 1974 when it was loaned to Russia and Japan and it will probably never travel again. Before that, it had left France just twice since Leonardo brought it in h

      3 min read

    Reviews for Saving Mona Lisa

    4/5

    28 ratings10 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      Having previously read Carolina Hicks' wonderful biography of the Bayeux Tapestry, I had a casual familiarity with the story of the relocation of the French art treasures prior to (and during) World War II. Geri Chanel's "Saving Mona Lisa" is about how Western art's most famous painting -- and its fellow residents of the Louvre (as well as other museums in Paris ans throughout France) were moved. And not just for safety reasons; for along with death and destruction, war brings looting, by both individuals and governments. The ancient Egyptian figure, "The Scribe," for example, was "removed" (the polite term) from its home in Cairo to the Louvre by Napoleon. Also, while Germany and France expropriated the lands of the Alsace-Lorraine back and forth between 1871 and 1940, the governments also helped themselves to each other's cultural heritage. C'est la vie. Ms. Chanel tells this story with amazing detail; imagine being entrusted with the care of Mona Lisa on what turned out to be multiple road trips throughout France -- to the point of having the painting, in its own wood, velvet-line case, at the side of your bed as you slept (in a 16th-c. chateaux!). From leaky roofs and basements to keeping well-connected "art lovers" (Hermann Goering) and scheming bureaucrats (Himmler, even some Vichy government officials), Ms. Chanel has rescued a not unimportant slice of history with a skill that her subjects, the administrators, curators and employees of the French museums exhibited during a time of crisis and chaos. Bon travail!!
    • 5/5
      This is a wonderful look at what a variety of priceless art works went through during a turbulent time. It was just amazing to read about the movements and battles surrounding the curators, and having to deal with the Nazis. After a certain point I was wondering if the German officials had other things to worry about and not whether they could get their hands on certain artworks.
    • 5/5
      This was a fascinating and absorbing account of the battle by curators at the Louvre, as well as many others who supported them, to save some of the world's most important art: paintings, drawings, sculptures, tapestries, altar pieces, antiquities, and objets d'art. Thousands of items had to be evacuated from the Louvre and other museums in France during World War II as Germany's invasion began. The items were moved repeatedly through the war as new threats arose, whether from fear of being too close to combat areas, or because of threats of dangerous storage conditions, such as harmful humidity levels, inadequate space or fire prevention resources, and more. The author does an excellent job of telling the stories of many of the individuals involved in the massive effort, including Jacques Jaujard, Van der Kemp, Chamson, Mazauric, Bazin,Huyghe, Wolff Metternich, and Rose Valland, a person many may remember from the book Monuments Men. One truly understands the dangers and problems faced by these individuals in their fight to preserve so much of our history. Far beyond the problems they may have been trained to handle (protecting art from humidity, vandalism, and other issues), they had to deal with inadequate heating, scarce food, and the other terrible conditions of war, as well as battling against the efforts of German leaders who were determined to steal away many of the treasures, as well as renegade soldiers. Many also became involved with the French Resistance, increasing the danger to themselves and the artwork they were charged with protecting. The author writes well and I found that I flew through each chapter. The understanding gained through the author's clear writing style was aided further by the addition of many photographs. I would highly recommend this book to anyone, even those who do not have a strong interest or background in art history. It is a story that is important for everyone to know.
    • 1/5
      I received a free copy of this book through the LTER in exchange for my honest opinion. I was very much looking forward to reading this book (having enjoyed the "Monuments Men" movie). However, I found this book extremely boring to read. There are only so many times you are willing to read how the dedicated Louvre Staff "opens the traveling case of the Mona Lisa" to check that she is still okay. This book's only redeeming feature is the way it shows the incredible dedication and sacrifices that the Louvre staff showed before, during and after WW II to safeguard these priceless treasures. I think this book is more aimed at readers with a strong interest in Art History.
    • 5/5
      Well researched account of the saving of French art from Nazi looters during World War II. The curators had to pack and remove the artwork from Paris, and arrange to have them stored in buildings away from the German army and bombings. Good section on what happened to the people after the war, and how they saved to artworks from being looted or destroyed by the German occupiers of France. Peculiar problems of storing artwork included humidity levels, moisture, theft or vandalism from storing the art in remote locations, and dealing with Germans, French resistance fighters, allied troops and local residents were all mostly overcome. A good story. Recommended for French history collections, WWII collections, and art history.
    • 5/5
      Exceptionally well-researched and written book about protecting and saving France’s national art treasures from the Nazis. The author has synthesized complicated subject matter. One of my favorite quotes, “During World War II, Jacques Jaujard shepherded the treasures of the Louvre to safety with an almost unimaginable a of amount of energy and miraculous mix of diplomacy…he fought the (Nazi) demands for France’s national art treasures again and again with no weapon but courage and no defense but integrity.” This book covers the hundreds of such dedicated individuals often risking their lives, strategic planning, horrors and chaos caused by the Nazis, along with triumph of successful missions.
    • 4/5
      Saving Mona Lisa is a fascinating story of how the French protected the famous masterpiece during World War II. It relates in a clear and straightforward style the careful and extraordinary measures taken to save the painting from the onslaught of the Nazi art looters. The story even reaches back to the history of the artwork, before and through World War I, and after World War II. Many illustrations and diagrams, plus a list of the main characters, help to put the facts into context. This book also deals with other famous and valuable artworks, but for further information on this general subject, one can read "The Monuments Men" by Robert Edsel, which became the recent movie with George Clooney.
    • 4/5
      I had mixed feelings about this book. I love reading about art history and also about World War 2 so I expected to love this book about the efforts to evacuate and hide the Mona Lisa and other Louvre treasures to protect them from Nazi attack.I admire how much effort the author put into the book, along with all of the details she was able to include. Alas, it was at the expense of readability. She got way too bogged down by details and much of the first half of the book was about logistics. I slogged through that part over the course of months, continually expecting the book to pick up.Well, pick up it did and I actually enjoyed the second half which focused more on the art staff's interactions with the Nazis as well as how wartime battles etc impacted the ongoing efforts to save the Mona Lisa and other art.In fact, parts were outstanding, especially the chapter on the role the art staff played in the Resistance.For people who love art history and/or World War 2 topics, I could recommend this book, keeping in mind the logistics angle. For me, there was way too much emphasis about how the artwork was wrapped, transported etc.I also would love to have seen a map. That would've been helpful in getting some idea to where the artwork was moving, yet again.Overall, I'd say it's an interesting book but could've been much better.
    • 5/5
      I received this book through LTER. Having read "The Monuments Men", I thought this would be a recap of some of the information. However, this was a book I couldn't put down once I started to read it. The history of how the Mona Lisa came to France as well as the issues with artwork during WWI were unknown to me before reading this book.This is a well researched work covering the planning and devotion of the museum curators in protecting and preserving the artworks of France through a difficult and dangerous time. Trying to outfox the fox from stealing the art treasures was an amazing task and story. I recommend this book to all history and art lovers.
    • 4/5
      The copyediting in my hardcover edition is total crap, and the narrative dragged a wee bit in the middle - although I doubt nearly as much as the same point in the actual war felt like it did for those that had to go through it - but otherwise, and excellent book about exactly what it says on the wrapper.  Concise, focused, and written to be easily read (if not for the bad copyediting), Chanel does a masterful job at juggling an enormous number of French and German players, and the unbelievable efforts curators, guards and volunteers went through to protect the art of Louvre.   The fact that she does this without deviating into politics or resistance efforts that don't directly pertain to the protection and conservation of the art made me appreciate the read even more.Though I've been to France, I've not been to Paris; I knew, of course, that the Louvre isn't a po-dunk museum, but until I read this book and saw the photos included (alas, all black and white but better than none), I really hadn't comprehended the sheer vastness of their collections.  And of course, having been to other world museums, I know that 'art' comprises many different mediums, but when I first imagined the evacuation of the 'art' prior to the outbreak of war in France, my mind's eye thought, of course, 'paintings'.  Nevermind the Winged Victory of Samotrace, a sculpture coming in at just around 3.5 tons.  And I never considered the paintings that were huge that had to be rolled up on giant oak poles, or Raft of the Medusa, that couldn't be rolled because the artist used bitumen for the black, which never dries but remains sticky.  Evacuating that piece alone was a tale.  And the Bayeux Tapestry?  That tale is one that can only be marvelled at in retrospect; in the moment it must have been ... I don't know, but I image the three meant who lived it got very, very drunk afterwards.An engaging read.