The mysterious theft of the Mona Lisa in 1911 had many suspects, and before Vincenzo Perugia was sentenced for the crime, another famous artist was speculated to be the real culprit who nicked Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece.

Guillaume Apollinaire, Max Jacobs, and Picasso formed an artistic group called La Banda Picasso when the famous artist moved to Paris. Géry Pieret, a corrupt man from Belgium, was an ancillary member of La Banda Picasso, wanted to please Picasso, and went to steal sculptures from the Louvre that Picasso had an affinity for. Picasso paid the Belgian for the stolen artworks.

The penniless Pieret announced his intentions of stealing more art from the woefully guarded Louvre to make more money. Upset with the idea, Apollinaire begged him not to.

Yet, Pieret refused, instead stealing another sculpture which, in turn, he displayed on his friend’s mantlepiece in the presence of a dozen writers and artists, all close acquaintances of Apollinaire. The very day Apollinaire asked Pieret to leave his home, the Mona Lisa was stolen.

Led by motives of malice towards his former mentor and an eye on the handsome reward, Pieret went to the Paris-Journal with information regarding the stolen statue resting on Apollinaire’s mantlepiece, incriminating the poet for harboring the statuettes from the Louvre.

This gave the police a lead, which eventually led them to Picasso himself. After heading to court, Picasso then swore to not knowing the Iberian statues were stolen, and asked for the judge to trust he had no connection with the heist of the Mona Lisa.

Check out the full story on The Daily Beast.