On August 21st, 1911, a person named Vincenzo Peruggia committed one of the most famous art heists in history. He stole one of the most remarkable paintings in the world, the Mona Lisa, made by Leonardo Da Vinci, from the Louvre in Paris. But who was Vincenzo Peruggia, and how did he get away with stealing the Mona Lisa? Vincenzo Peruggia was an Italian man who had moved to Paris. He then got a job in the Louvre, installing protective glass onto new paintings that the museum received. This job gave him special access to the secured art and a way to know how to access all the paintings in the Louvre, without tripping security set for criminals (like him). In his Louvre uniform, a white smock, Vincenzo Peruggia could walk in the gallery when no one else was there, and it was this access to the gallery that helped him steal the painting. After that, he had hoped he could sell the artwork to a wealthy person. But when news of the painting’s theft hit the media and police began offering a large reward for its return, he realized this might be more difficult than expected. When Peruggia eventually tried to sell it in the black market for a lot of money, he was caught instantly. This stunt, which dragged on for almost 3.5 years, helped make the Mona Lisa as famous as it is today. Last summer, I was able to go see the Mona Lisa in the Louvre in person and learn all about it. The experience of it was truly phenomenal: from the bustling crowd in the small room to the far enhanced security around it, perhaps due to fear of another Peruggia. My first thought was the painting is way smaller than I expected. When I looked at the painting for the first time, I felt awed because I was in the room with one of the most valued works of art in the world, and it was just a couple of feet away from me. The painting itself is a portrait of Lisa del Giocondo, an Italian noblewoman, although whether Da Vinci used a different person for the model is very controversial. I observed that Mona Lisa’s eyes followed me around the room, watching me as I explored. There are many stories to be told about the Louvre, like how the workers designed a metal cage to go around the painting in case of a fire, but the theft of the Mona Lisa has to be the most exciting one. Recently, I read The Mona Lisa Vanishes by Nicholas Day, a nonfiction novel about how the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre. The writing style of this book was a narrative and explains the theft of the painting. Although written in the style of a history book, the author made the story engaging and funny. For example, on pages 248 and 249, Nicholas describes Da Vinci’s mathematics notebook in which Da Vinci wrote a short note about stopping his entry because his “soup was getting cold.” Instead of deleting that part from his story, Day keeps it in and writes, “He would go on, you see, but he has to eat.” I learned a lot from Day’s book about the Mona Lisa, and at the same time, I was never tired of reading it. I enjoyed that the book had pictures with each chapter; this choice can help readers envision different parts of the book. I recommend this book to 5th and 6th graders wanting to learn more about art history, or someone planning a trip to Paris who wants to learn more about the story of the Mona Lisa. The Mona Lisa Vanishes by Nicholas Day. Random House Studio, 2023. Buy the book here and help support Stone Soup in the process!
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
A Collector’s Armory Ep. 1: All About Collecting By Ayaan Pirani, 11
A Collector’s Army is Stone Soup’s newest podcast about collecting everything from stuffed animals to baseball cards, hosted by Ayaan Pirani. https://stonesoup.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/A-Collectors-Armory.m4a Welcome to A Collector’s Armory! This is a podcast about collecting different things throughout the stages of life. You might think of an armory as a place where weapons are kept, but I’m using the word broadly to name a place where any collectible could be stored. We’ll cover questions such as why would I collect these items, how do I display my collectibles, and where do I find collectibles? I’ll be your host, Ayaan Pirani, and I’ve been collecting things for a long time. My obsession started from a very young age with Hot Wheels and stuffed animals and has now progressed to Funko Pops and sports cards. The name of this episode is “All About Collecting.” We’re going to start off with what are collectibles? Well, collectibles can be a variety of things, from action figures to shoes. In short, collectibles are items that one keeps for personal satisfaction. On to question 2: how much money do collectibles cost? Well, for starters, the cost of a collectible can range from super cheap to really expensive. I have around 160 collectibles in my room at this moment. An example of a moderately priced one could be this Elf Bonnie plushie from Five Nights at Freddy’s that sells for about $6 but has a value of $40. An example of a more pricey collectible could be my Wander Franco pink fireworks rookie baseball card from Donruss. This card is worth about $45. An example of a super expensive collectible that I sadly don’t own is a Willy Wonka Oompa Loompa 2-pack golden ticket Funko Pop that recently sold for $100,000. Now that you know a bit about collectibles, you may ask, once I have a collectible, what do I do with them? Well once you have a collectible, you can find out a personal way you want to store or display them, so it can look good. For example, personally, with my Funko Pops to display them I purchased a baseball bat case and placed LED lights in the case. This allows my case to have good lighting. After that, I placed my out-of-box Funko Pops in the case. However, depending on what you collect, you might invent a different way to display your collectible. Lastly, you may ask, do celebrities collect things? The answer to that question is of course! Many famous people collect things for personal enjoyment. For instance, actor Leonardo DiCaprio collects action figures and has an absurd collection of them. Another example of a famous collector is Elton John, a musician who collects shoes. A final example of a famous collector is Jake Plummer, a quarterback for the Denver Broncos. He collects Hot Wheels. This wraps up your introduction to A Collector’s Armory. This is your host, Ayaan Pirani, signing off for today! Next month, we’ll be talking about collectibles from a young age. Leave a comment down below, stating what you would like to collect. Until next time, see ya!
Blox Fruits, Reviewed by Elliott Whang, 12
A beam of light comes zooming at me faster than I can dodge. I shoot a fireball back at my enemy. And…I die…but, I quickly spring back to life, fuming to get my revenge. This situation has happened to me multiple times. In a video game, of course. The video game I had just died in is called Blox Fruits. You might be thinking, “Why would beams of light and fireballs be going off in a game with fruits?” Well, these fruits are not exactly normal. In fact, these fruits can give the player special powers if eaten by your character in the game. To gain fruits in this game, you can either find them on the map, buy one with real or game currency, or trade fruits with other players. Speaking of other players, every server, which is a group of people in an online world, has random players in it, unless you play with your friends. You can join a game online with your friends and do challenges and quests with each other. You can gain levels by killing non-playing characters, which are generated by the game, therefore completing a quest. Each successful quest gives the player an increase of around 1-2 levels until you reach a maximum level set by the game developers. Playing with friends makes the game more fun and easier than just playing by yourself. It is also more efficient because teamwork can speed up the process of completing quests. The main goal of this game is to get to max level, where you can annihilate people. By gaining levels, you receive stat points that you can put into several different categories. These categories are combat/stamina, health, sword, gun, and fruit. Each stat point gives an increase in damage or health. In addition to leveling up, there are also other side goals, like getting different combat styles, clothes, swords and guns. But why would swords, clothes and guns be in a fruit game? By having swords, guns, and clothes in the game, it allows the players to also focus on getting different items besides just fruits. Clothes, swords and guns all have different rarities just like fruits. Clothes can give stat boosts, while swords, guns, combat styles, and fruits cause damage to opponents. Swords and guns are also added because this game is based off a show, which happens to have swords and guns. This game sounds really complicated, likely because there is too much to cover in a single blog post, so instead you should play it yourself. You can play this game inside a game called Roblox. You can download Roblox for free on an Iphone, PC, IOS, Android, and some Xbox models. If you don’t like the sound of fruit giving you superpowers, there are also many other fun and free games you can play. Stay tuned for my next blog about a game that requires less time and more skill. Are you ready?
