Yves Chaudron

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Yves Chaudron is often described as a French master art forger linked to the 1911 Mona Lisa theft, but the story is highly doubtful. The tale mainly comes from a 1932 article by journalist Karl Decker in the Saturday Evening Post, and there is little independent evidence that Chaudron existed or that the theft happened as told.

According to Decker, Chaudron worked with Eduardo de Valfierno to copy Leonardo’s Mona Lisa and sell the fakes as originals. The plan, reportedly, was for six counterfeit paintings to be shipped to the United States while the real Mona Lisa was kept hidden. On August 21, 1911, Louvre worker Vincenzo Peruggia and two accomplices stole the real painting. The original was hidden for two years and recovered in 1913 in Florence when Peruggia tried to sell it. The six copies, if they existed, have never been located and may never have existed at all.

There is no solid proof that Valfierno existed or that Chaudron made any forgeries. No photographs or verifiable biographical details about Chaudron survive, and the only source for his alleged activities is Decker’s 1932 article, which could be fiction. If Valfierno did exist, Chaudron supposedly retired after the theft and reportedly continued forging other works, but no forged pieces by him have been verified. Despite this, Chaudron is sometimes listed among famous forgers, even though no genuine works can be tied to him.