Committee asks again that Mona Lisa visit Florence

FLORENCE, ITALY – A petition asking that Leonardo da Vinci’s famous Mona Lisa be returned to Italy for a visit has been submitted to French cultural authorities, supporters of the move said Friday.

As many as 150,000 people signed the petition, asking that the small painting be loaned from its home in Paris’ Louvre museum, its proponents say. The request from the Italian committee for the development of cultural heritage says that the painting, which is believed to have been completed in Florence, should be returned to Italy if only for a short while.