Crowds in Florence and Rome turned out in enormous numbers to see the painting. The *New York Times* reported that approximately 30,000 people came to view the recovered painting in Florence alone. The numbers at the Italian exhibitions before the return to France added to what would become, over the subsequent decades, a steadily growing pattern of mass attendance wherever the Mona Lisa appeared.
The painting was returned to the Louvre in January 1914.
—
## The Trial: Florence, June 1914
Peruggia’s trial took place in Florence in June 1914. The venue — Florence rather than Paris — reflected the fact that his arrest and the recovery had occurred on Italian soil, that the painting had been in his possession in Italy when found, and that Italian jurisdiction had been asserted.
The proceedings attracted international press attention. The key questions before the court were whether Peruggia had committed the theft and, if so, what sentence was appropriate given his stated motives and the larger circumstances of the case.
His defense rested almost entirely on the patriotic motive argument. His lawyers presented him as a man who had been moved by a genuine love of his country and a belief — however factually inaccurate — that he was correcting an historical injustice. The argument did not require proving the history; it required establishing the sincerity of his belief.
The prosecution pointed out the documented evidence of financial motive. His letters to his father from the period of the theft discussed “making his fortune.” His initial approach to Alfredo Geri had included a request for 500,000 lire — a substantial sum that was clearly about payment for the painting rather than any kind of principled repatriation. His approach to the London dealer Joseph Duveen, if the account is accurate, was similarly financial in character.