Saving Mona Lisa The battle to protect the Louvre and its treasures from the Nazis

*Starred Review* Decades after WWII, we are still learning about the courage of those who fought to defend the free world. Those heroes include the men and women of France's Musée Nationaux (French National Museums), who risked not only their jobs but sometimes their very lives to save and protect the nation's artistic heritage. Their efforts saved some 3,600 paintings as well as thousands of antiquities, objets d'art, sculptures, and engravings that they evacuated from the Louvre and stored in a system of depots throughout the country. Some works were moved many times. Da Vinci's masterpiece, the Mona Lisa, had its own specially constructed, velvet-lined case placed inside a nondescript wooden crate and travelled eight times. Incredibly, when the Louvre's Grande Galerie reopened in 1947, every priceless treasure was back in place, except, as Chanel wryly notes, one mummified sheep. The efforts of this army of curators, art historians, museum directors, archivists, volunteers, and museum staff achieved the goal described by Rose Volland, volunteer staff member at the Jeu de Paume Museum, as saving a little of the beauty of the world. Chanel's history is a work of substance and scholarship that should be part of every art history collection and required reading for anyone who cares about Western civilization.--Carolyn Mulac Copyright 2018 Booklist

Journalist Chanel's debut narrates the fascinating WWII story of how French museum officials prevented Germany from plundering or destroying the Mona Lisa and other valuable art. As she recounts, plans for safeguarding the pieces from wartime hostilities began in the mid-1930s, as fascism spread through Europe. By the time war broke out in 1939, masterpieces had already been evacuated to keep them out of range of bombs and weapons fire. They also needed protection from looting; Hitler and top Nazi officials intended to build up Germany's national collections and add to their private ones with pilfered art. Though the story is more about art than people, Jacques Jaujard, deputy director of the Musées Nationaux, emerges as a central character. Risking his own safety, he delayed carrying out German orders to surrender artwork, protected his employees, and kept track of important Jewish collections. Chanel's at her best explaining the processes of moving and storing the treasures, and describing negotiations between the French and Germans about where to house the art. A valuable prequel to the more widely known Monuments Men story, this book will intrigue art history and WWII buffs. Illus. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.