The Nazi Hunt for Mona Lisa

Warfare

History Hit

History

4.5 • 943 Ratings

🗓️ 22 November 2021

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

During the Second World War, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa left her usual position in the Louvre, Paris. From 1939 to 1945, the portrait was moved between five different hiding places in the French countryside, and she was not alone. In this episode, Laura Morelli guides us through the twin stories of the Nazis who were tasked with finding and seizing treasured artworks from across Europe, and the curators, archivists and others who risked their lives to prevent this from happening. Laura is a USA Today bestselling historical novelist and an art historian. She is the author of ‘The Stolen Lady: A Novel of World War II and the Mona Lisa’.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Oh, he's cute. Mr. I can never sleep when I'm traveling. He's hugging his pillow like a sloth on a branch.
0:10.0	He couldn't sleep before. Now listen to him. Sounds like an elephant with a chest infection.
0:15.0	Well, they call him a dreamer. And now they're right.
0:19.0	All aboard, Mr. I can never sleep when I'm traveling.
0:23.0	Find all the comfort you need in the quiet lounge.
0:26.0	Piando Ferries, there is another way.
0:29.0	Hello everyone, welcome back to the history hit warfare podcast I'm your host James
0:36.6	Rogers and this episode focuses in on the Second World War
0:40.4	specifically how did the artist curators and archivists at places like the Louvre Museum in Paris
0:46.5	protect some of the world's greatest masterpieces from the Nazis? As art historian and best-selling author Laura Morelli explains, the Nazis
0:56.5	had a dedicated, sprawling, heavily funded department that was specifically given the job to steal and hoard precious art.
1:05.0	They even had their own Nazi theft division.
1:09.0	But there was one painting that they couldn't find,
1:12.0	one that Hitler, the failed artist, desperately wanted, and despite
1:16.6	a cat and mouse chase that lasted the entirety of the war, they never got their hands on it. And this was the Mona Lisa. Laura's
1:24.7	retelling of this story is captivating and she's got a new book out called The
1:28.8	Stolen Lady, a novel of World War II and the Mona Lisa.
1:32.6	Check it out and remember if you like what you're here,
1:34.9	then take a second to pop us a five-star review
1:37.3	on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:41.0	Enjoy. Enjoy. Hi Laura, great to have you on the history hit Warfare Podcast. How are you doing today?
2:00.0	Hello James, I'm doing well. Thank you so much for having me. It's a thrill.
	...

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