Peruggia brought Geri and Poggi to his hotel room. He produced the painting from a trunk — in some accounts, from beneath a false bottom; in others, wrapped in materials in the lower portion of the trunk. The painting was coated in what appears to have been a layer of red paint or other material applied for concealment, though accounts differ on the exact condition of the painting when it was found.
Poggi examined it. The Uffizi’s director had, in the course of his professional career, seen the Mona Lisa many times. He knew the painting’s specific dimensions. He knew the marks, cracks, and characteristics that distinguished the original from reproductions. The panel he was looking at matched. Specific identifying marks — including details of the poplar wood panel’s grain and characteristics of the paint surface — corresponded to documentation the Uffizi held.
Poggi confirmed the painting was genuine.
Geri and Poggi told Peruggia they would need to take the painting to the Uffizi for a more complete verification process. Peruggia agreed. He was apparently expecting that this next step would lead to the financial settlement he had been pursuing for months. He accompanied them, or they took the painting with his consent, and went to the Uffizi.
At the Uffizi, while Peruggia waited, Geri contacted the police.
Peruggia was arrested. The date was December 11, 1913. He was returned to the Hotel Tripoli-Italia and taken into formal custody.
The painting he had hidden for twenty-eight months was in the hands of Italian authorities, who quickly confirmed the authentication that Poggi had already established. The Mona Lisa, after more than two years, had been found in Florence.