When President John Fitzgerald Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline visited Paris on 31 May 1961, the Élysée Palace, together with Citroën, arranged something special for their stay. The couple was provided with a unique Citroën DS19, fitted with a perfectly transparent, one-piece blue Plexiglas roof that gave them a panoramic view of the city: an even more spectacular perspective than the already remarkable standard DS could offer.
After the parade the American President and First Lady had the chance to enjoy Paris from inside the DS19. From Le Bourget airport to the Élysée Palace they had travelled aboard another presidential Citroën (the 15Six-based convertible designed by Henri Chapron). Jacqueline Kennedy also made use of the DS19 on her own, while her husband attended official meetings, taking the opportunity to explore the neighborhoods and monuments of the French capital.
It was on this occasion that the First Lady imagined Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic Mona Lisa being exhibited in the United States. The following spring, during a visit to Washington by France’s Minister of Culture, André Malraux, the idea took shape. In1963, Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” made her public debut at National Gallery of Art in Washington first, and then, on 7 February, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. There, it drew more than a million visitors in a single month. Sometimes all it takes is a transparent roof and a Citroën DS to spark the right inspiration.
