Mona Lisa in Camelot: How Jacqueline Kennedy and da Vinci’s Masterpiece Charmed and Captivated a Nation

This book tells the fascinating true story of the world's most famous painting-and the cultural ambassador who helped bring her to America. In December 1962, "Mona Mania" swept the country as Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa set sail from Paris to New York for what many knew would be the riskiest art exhibition ever mounted. The driving force behind the famous painting's high-profile visit was First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, who convinced French Cultural Minister André Malraux and National Gallery Director John Walker to share the masterpiece with the American people. The White House Historical Association presents an enhanced and expanded publication of Mona Lisa in Camelot with archives drawn from the National Gallery of Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Stewart McLaurin, President of the White House Historical Association, writes, "Margaret Leslie Davis's captivating account of the loan of the Mona Lisa by France is of special interest to the White House Historical Association because the circumstances that brought the masterpiece to the United States are the same circumstances that gave birth to the White House Historical Association. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy was determined to share the greatest painting in the world with the American people, and just as determined to make the White House a "living museum" accessible to the nation..."