Swipe to see all charts
Friday, December 16, 2022
Despite having sophisticated security systems in place, art thieves have repeatedly been successful in stealing from museums and private homes throughout history. In 2020, many big U.S. museums, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Art, saw a drop in visitors due to COVID-19 shutdowns in cities like New York and Washington D.C., causing them to fall out of the top 10 of the world's most-visited museums. However, in 2021 these museums were able to regain their ranks of six and seven. Let's look at some stats concerning museums!
In 2021, it is clear that the iconic Lovre in Paris, France was the most visited worldwide, with the National Museum of China in Bejing following closely after.
The second chart shows that the theft of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre on 21 August 1911 remains the biggest art heist in history. Louvre employee Vincenzo Peruggia wanted the painting displayed in an Italian museum and managed to steal it by hiding it under his coat. He kept the Mona Lisa in his apartment for two years before he was arrested and the precious painting was returned to the Louvre.
Source: Statista (a), Statista (b)