In 1911, the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre. Who took it?

An Italian handyman, Vincenzo Peruggia

Louvre Quiz: Masterpieces, the Pyramid and Palace of France

This Louvre quiz explores the world's most visited museum in Paris, with questions on I. M. Pei's glass pyramid, the medieval fortress of Philip II, the theft of the Mona Lisa in 1911, the Winged Victory of Samothrace, the Venus de Milo, the Code of Hammurabi, Delacroix, Géricault and the move of the French court to Versailles. Ten questions.

Start Louvre Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 90 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 90s

Pyramid
Which architect designed the Louvre's famous glass pyramid?
Opening
In which year did the Louvre's glass pyramid entrance open?
Origins
What was the Louvre when it was first built around 1190?
Thefts
In 1911, the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre. Who took it?
Sculptures
Which headless Greek statue of a goddess stands at the top of the Daru staircase?
Sculptures
The Venus de Milo, missing both arms, was discovered in 1820 on which Greek island?
Laws
Which ancient stone slab in the Louvre is inscribed with one of the world's oldest written law codes?
Paintings
Which French painter created Liberty Leading the People, celebrating the 1830 revolution?
Paintings
Which huge Louvre painting by Théodore Géricault shows survivors of a shipwreck?
Palaces
The Louvre stopped being the main royal residence when Louis XIV moved his court where in 1682?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Which architect designed the Louvre's famous glass pyramid?
Answer: I. M. Pei
The Chinese-American architect's design caused fierce debate when it was announced. Today, the pyramid is one of the most photographed structures in Paris.
Q2: In which year did the Louvre's glass pyramid entrance open?
Answer: 1989
It opened for the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution. The pyramid is about 21 meters tall and made of more than 600 glass panes.
Q3: What was the Louvre when it was first built around 1190?
Answer: A fortress built by King Philip II
The castle protected Paris from attacks from the west. Its medieval foundations can still be seen in the museum's basement.
Q4: In 1911, the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre. Who took it?
Answer: An Italian handyman, Vincenzo Peruggia
Peruggia hid in the museum and walked out with the painting under his smock. It was found in Florence two years later, and the theft made it world-famous.
Q5: Which headless Greek statue of a goddess stands at the top of the Daru staircase?
Answer: The Winged Victory of Samothrace
The marble figure of Nike seems to stand on the prow of a ship. It was found on the Greek island of Samothrace in 1863.
Q6: The Venus de Milo, missing both arms, was discovered in 1820 on which Greek island?
Answer: Milos
A farmer found the statue in pieces. Experts still debate what the goddess Aphrodite was holding in her missing hands.
Q7: Which ancient stone slab in the Louvre is inscribed with one of the world's oldest written law codes?
Answer: The Code of Hammurabi
The black basalt stele comes from Babylon and dates to around 1750 BC. The Rosetta Stone is in the British Museum in London.
Q8: Which French painter created Liberty Leading the People, celebrating the 1830 revolution?
Answer: Eugène Delacroix
The painting shows Liberty holding the French flag above the barricades. Her image later inspired Marianne, a symbol of France.
Q9: Which huge Louvre painting by Théodore Géricault shows survivors of a shipwreck?
Answer: The Raft of the Medusa
It is based on the real wreck of a French navy ship in 1816. Géricault interviewed survivors and studied bodies to make the scene realistic.
Q10: The Louvre stopped being the main royal residence when Louis XIV moved his court where in 1682?
Answer: Versailles
The empty palace was later used by artists and academies. The museum opened to the public in 1793, during the French Revolution.

Louvre Quiz – The World's Most Visited Museum

The Louvre in Paris is the most visited museum in the world, welcoming around nine million people in a typical year. Housed in a vast former royal palace on the Right Bank of the Seine, it holds tens of thousands of works on display, from ancient Egyptian treasures to Renaissance paintings. Its most famous resident is Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa.

The Louvre began as a fortress built by King Philip II around 1190. Over the centuries, French kings turned it into a grand palace, adding wings and galleries. When Louis XIV moved his court to Versailles in 1682, the Louvre became home to art academies. During the French Revolution, it opened to the public as a museum in 1793.

Its collections are organized into departments such as Egyptian, Greek and Roman antiquities, Near Eastern art, paintings, sculptures and decorative arts. Highlights include the Winged Victory of Samothrace, the Venus de Milo, the Code of Hammurabi, Liberty Leading the People and The Raft of the Medusa.

In 1989, I. M. Pei's glass pyramid became the museum's main entrance. At first controversial, it is now an icon. The Mona Lisa became famous worldwide after it was stolen in 1911 and recovered two years later.

The museum's security has made news again in recent years, including a daytime theft of crown jewels from the Galerie d'Apollon in 2025.

Visitors are advised to plan ahead and book timed tickets. Exploring every gallery would take weeks, so many people choose a few highlights. The Tuileries Garden, next to the museum, offers a peaceful place to rest after a long visit.

This quiz covers the history, architecture and masterpieces of the Louvre.

What This Quiz Teaches

This quiz is perfect for art lovers, history fans and travelers to Paris.

The glass pyramid and its architect
How the Louvre began as a fortress
The 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa
Famous sculptures like the Venus de Milo
Masterpieces by Delacroix and Géricault
When the Louvre became a museum

Quick Facts About the Louvre

The Louvre is closed on Tuesdays.
The Mona Lisa is protected by bulletproof glass.
Napoleon III's apartments are preserved inside the museum.
The Louvre Lens is a branch museum in northern France.
An inverted glass pyramid sits in the underground shopping area.
The museum's collection includes more than 500,000 objects.