HistoryTV18 revisits the Mona Lisa theft in new special with Laurence Fishburne

MUMBAI: A missing masterpiece, a global manhunt, and a mystery that made history’s most famous smile unforgettable. HistoryTV18 is set to premiere a new documentary special, History’s Greatest Mysteries: The Theft Of The Monalisa: Case Closed, revisiting one of the most notorious art crimes in history, the 1911 theft of Mona Lisa from the Louvre Museum.

The special, narrated by Oscar and Golden Globe nominee Laurence Fishburne, will air on Friday, June 19 at 9 pm, taking viewers back to the moment the world’s most recognisable portrait disappeared without a trace.

The story begins on a quiet August morning in 1911, when artist Louis Béroud arrived at the Louvre expecting to copy the painting, only to find an empty wall and four vacant hooks. Within hours, panic spread through the museum, triggering a high-profile investigation led by Paris police chief Louis Lépine.

As investigators followed the trail, suspicion widened across Parisian society. The case drew in a long list of potential suspects, ranging from museum insiders to high-profile cultural figures, including artist Pablo Picasso, poet Guillaume Apollinaire, and even speculation linking wealthy collectors such as J.P. Morgan.

The documentary retraces the two-year investigation that followed, capturing the twists, theories and public frenzy that transformed a theft into a global sensation. What began as a shocking disappearance ultimately elevated the Mona Lisa from a Renaissance masterpiece into the world’s most famous painting.

Blending expert commentary and dramatic reconstruction, the special explores how the case was eventually resolved and why the theft continues to fascinate more than a century later.

With its mix of history, mystery and cultural intrigue, the programme promises to take viewers inside one of art history’s most enduring unsolved-feeling stories, where fact and legend continue to blur.