Who Destroyed the Mona Lisa?

Competition in the world of art can be brutal. Someone has taken it upon themselves to destroy DaVinci’s latest work. Who is responsible? Is it Mona Lisa’s jealous husband? DaVinci’s assistant? Or is it Mona Lisa herself? Detectives must work hard to get to the truth!

This interactive mystery includes: instructions on how to play; extension activities; a setup story; list of characters and detailed character descriptions; character worksheets and a detective checklist! Below is the setup story and one character description.

The Story…

Buongiorno! Welcome to Florence, Italy. Normally, these local artists are not a problem. They paint, wealthy merchants and noblemen buy their paintings, and all is well. Sure, some artists do better than others in this age of enlightenment, but one artist stands above all the rest and his name is Leonardo DaVinci. Scholar, scientist, musician, engineer, painter, sculpture, and over all genius, DaVinci is truly a Renaissance man. What has shocked the city is the destruction of his latest masterpiece, The Mona Lisa. DaVinci returned to his studio to put the final touches on the portrait and was shocked to find a hideous monster on the canvas instead of the beautiful woman with the secret smile. Hideous, crossed eyes, red, bulbous nose, and hair untamed and wild. It is your job to find out which vandal in DaVinci’s world destroyed the Mona Lisa.

Character Description Example

Francesco (Mona Lisa’s husband): As a wealthy merchant, it was clear why DaVinci chose your wife to be his next model. Money encourages business transactions such as this. You want the world to see how beautiful your wife truly is, and who else but the greatest painter alive should paint her? But why does he look at her the way he does? Surely, she has given him no reason to think she is interested in him. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea. Maybe no one should see her portrait.