![\"GUILLAUME-APOLLINAIRE-1-1\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/81\/2017\/09\/GUILLAUME-APOLLINAIRE-1-1.jpg\")
<\/a>\nIt was on this day, the 7th of September, in 1911 that Guillaume Apollinaire<\/a> was arrested under suspicion of stealing the Mona Lisa<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A classic example of the dangers of being an ironist in literalist times.<\/p>\n
Apollinaire was a renowned\u00a0critic, poet, pornographer and the man who coined the term \u201csurrealism\u201d as well as \u201ccubism.\u201d He would come to be considered one of the signal Western literary figures of the early twentieth century.<\/p>\n
One could see why he would fall under suspicion.\u00a0He had, after all, once called for the Louvre to be burned to the ground. And, well, irony doesn\u2019t play well with law enforcement, literalist times, or not.<\/p>\n
Okay, and, it probably didn\u2019t help that it turned out he had given shelter to Vincenzo Peruggia, the man who in fact did steal the painting. And who when he departed from Apollinaire\u2019s apartment left behind some Egyptian statuettes that were also part of the theft.<\/p>\n
Knowing things were looking bad, the poet suggested maybe the person they were actually looking for was\u00a0Pablo Picasso. Apparently there is little honor among the poets. And maybe, who knows, as Apollinaire was a Roman, and his friend Picasso had in the past suggested the poet was the illegitimate son of the current pope, possibly Apollinaire hadn\u2019t thought that tittle jest was as funny as the artist did. Perhaps Apollinaire recalled that as he was looking for someone to give up to the authorities.<\/p>\n
And so Picasso was also dragged in for questioning.<\/p>\n
Picasso was quickly released.<\/p>\n
And, after a week, so was Apollinaire.<\/p>\n
For me here, a small moment to recall the rogue who was also one of our literary greats\u2026<\/p>\n