This one spans history, depending on how you view it. The scope of the art dates is large, the war years relatively small. During WWII the Louvre stashed its art in the SW of France in various chateaus and didn't lose a single piece.

More than 350 miles south of Paris, the Lot is one of France’s uncharted corners, despite exporting the inky red grape that grows from its soil, Malbec, to the world. Named for another river that flows through it, the Lot is also one of the country’s smaller departments: At a little over 2,000 square miles, it’s almost half the size of its better-known neighbor, the Dordogne department.

For more than two years at the end of World War II, from March 1943 until June 1945, however, the low-key setting of the Lot—and Château de Montal in particular—was exactly what was needed to answer a question Louvre curators had found themselves asking since before the war started: How do you solve a problem like the Mona Lisa? . . . .In total, 5,667 crates from the national museums were evacuated from Paris starting September 1, 1939, the day Germany invaded Poland. At the Louvre, only the most fragile or bulky works of art were left in place. “The curators made detailed lists indicating the priority by which works should be evacuated,” says Chanel. A simple coding system was settled upon: A yellow dot was placed on most works, a green dot on works of major importance and a red dot for the most significant. Overseeing it all was the director of the national museums, Jacques Jaujard. “His heroism in protecting the Louvre’s artwork and antiques was extraordinary,” says Chanel.