Beatrice von Dovsky

Beatrice von Dovsky was an Austrian poet, writer, and actress. She is best known for writing the libretto for Max von Schillings's opera Mona Lisa which she presented to the composer in the spring of 1913. The subject was very topical at the time, because the painting by Leonardo da Vinci had been stolen from the Louvre in 1911, and rediscovered in Florence in 1913. The opera premiered successfully at the Staatsoper Stuttgart in September 1915, and, while not part of the standard opera repertory, has been commercially recorded three times and revived numerous times by major opera houses throughout the 20th century.