Tuesday, January 8, 1963: 'Mona Lisa' in the U.S.

On loan from France, Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece goes on display at the National Gallery of Art in Washington. After a later showing at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, it was returned to France in March. 

Pictured are President Kennedy, French minister of cultural affairs Andre Malraux and his wife, first lady Jacqueline Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon Johnson.

* Summary from National Gallery of Art website: @

* Entry from Louvre Museum: @

* Photos, remarks from opening ceremony (from JFK Library) -- photos: @; remarks: @ audio: @

* Website for "Mona Lisa in Camelot" (Margaret Leslie Davis, 2008): @

* "How the Mona Lisa Almost Came to a Watery End" (The Art Newspaper, May 2009): @

* Video summary: @

* "Princess Smile" (newsreel, from Critical Past): @

* "Mona Lisa Makes Her Smiling U.S. Debut" (newsreel, from British Pathe): @ 

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