Fascinating facts about Mona Lisa and its fate

Mona Lisa It is one of the most famous single faces in the world

most people Mona Lisa is known for his charming smile. In fact, the most famous painting by Leonardo Da Vinci was called Mona Lisa, which was painted on a sepiar wood panel with oil paint. Among the titles of this famous painting, we can mention the most known, most visited and imitated work in the world.

An abstract about Mona Lisa painting

Painter: Leonardo da Vinci

Year of creation: 1503

Technique: oil paint on wood

Dimensions: 77 x 53 cm

Owner: Louvre Museum, Paris

Canvas material: sapidar wood

Who was Mona Lisa?

Leonardo da Vinci started painting the Mona Lisa in Florence in 1503 or 1504. According to one of da Vinci's contemporaries named Giorgio Vasari, Leonardo da Vinci left this painting incomplete after four years of delay; This behavior is common in many of Leonardo's paintings, which he later expressed regret in his life: “…I never finished a single work…”

According to history, one of the aristocrats of Florence, named Francesco Bartolomeo, had requested da Vinci to paint a portrait of his third wife for him; His third wife, who was twenty-five years old, was named Lisa Antonio Maria, and Francisco Bartolomeo wanted this work on the occasion of the birth of their second child. Da Vinci worked on this artwork for four years and did not sell this beautiful painting to Francisco after finishing the painting in 1507 and kept it with himself when he left Florence.

Some people believe that Leonardo did not sell the painting to Francisco because it was incomplete, while others say that Leonardo fell in love with it. After putting the Mona Lisa painting in his suitcase, da Vinci went to France in 1516 and sold it to Francois I (then king of France). Over time, this beautiful work was taken to different French cities until this beautiful work was kept in the Louvre Museum since the French Revolution. Then this painting was transferred by Napoleon Bonaparte from the museum to his private bedroom in the Tuileries Palace, but when Napoleon was arrested; They took this work to the Louvre again.

The state or position of Mona Lisa

Today, Mona Lisa's face has become so repetitive that we don't really see her beautiful smile. Smiling is a regular part of portrait photos. But in the period when Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo, it was such a revolutionary and heretical attitude that today it is referred to as pictures with a modern frown. Almost at that time, they drew portraits of people who sat very stiff and stiff and tried to show more frowns on their faces to make the memory of their whole life more serious, but the image of Mona Lisa was very calm and comfortable. The position of his hands was on the bench in front of him and instead of fisting his fingers or putting a gun or a brush full of stories in his hands, he had placed them in a crossed and free position. Mona Lisa's face is not bent here and there and is not staring into the distance; Rather, it is like this that guides the eyes to the face.

Mona Lisa painting style

It is believed that after moving to France, Leonardo da Vinci continued to work on the Mona Lisa for three years until he finally finished the work in 1519, before his death. This work is considered as the most famous single face in the world. Instead of Leonardo Donavichi painting the Mona Lisa on the canvas; He drew it on wood using paint and oil. Mona Lisa is a symbol of da Vinci's genius in erasing.

Leonardo da Vinci began painting the Mona Lisa in 1503 or 1504 in Florence

One of the methods of highlighting the image is erasing, and the artists who follow this method do not have decisive limits; Rather, they specify the boundaries using the color of the shadows. In addition, one of Da Vinci's innovations was the three-sided sitting of the subject of the painting, which has not been seen before. The ambiguity of Mona Lisa's face shows that da Vinci is interested in the shadow of illumination. Da Vinci placed this face inside a pyramid and created three large spots of light in this work. Among the features of the Mona Lisa painting that make it beautiful, we can mention the correct composition, appropriate coloring, emphasis on the human element, three-dimensional image, and a scientific view of the lighting shadow. In this beautiful work, the landscape is seen from above and the face is seen from below.

Mona Lisa thefts

Undoubtedly, one of the valuable works of art is the Mona Lisa painting. Even though the Mona Lisa was considered one of the important works of the Louvre Museum until 1911, what happened in this year changed the fate of the painting. The Mona Lisa was easily stolen from the Louvre in the same year. It is interesting to know that after 48 hours, the museum authorities realized that this painting had disappeared. The director of the painting department of the museum resigned after this incident, and the painter Picasso and the poet Apollinaire (the suspects of the theft of the Mona Lisa) were arrested. Picasso had a history of buying and selling works of art, and this made him one of the suspects. Of course, both artists were released after a short time.

Two years after the Mona Lisa was stolen, no one found it, until an art dealer in Italy called authorities and said someone had been trying to sell him the Mona Lisa. Officials quickly arrested the thief and his identity was revealed. An Italian living in France named Vincenzo Perugia worked at the Louvre Museum for a short time. Vincenzo was tasked with making a glass case for works of art, one of which was the Mona Lisa.

Vincenzo stole the Mona Lisa painting with the help of two other people at night and hid it in the commode. These three people removed the painting from the museum the next day in front of all the visitors and employees. After the Mona Lisa painting was found, it was put on public display in various museums in Italy and finally; It was delivered to France. Because Mona Lisa was stolen for 2 years, it became more famous than before.

While the Mona Lisa was kept in the Louvre, it was attacked several times. Of course, these attacks did not cause much damage to the painting due to the presence of protective glass around it, but nevertheless, the museum officials spent more time and money to make the painting's storage conditions safer. Today, using bulletproof glass, they make the cabinet for the board and it is difficult to break into it.

In 1965, someone sprayed acid on the Mona Lisa for the first time. Another person attacked it with a rock a few weeks later. In 1974, a woman attacked the Mona Lisa's cabinet using red spray to show how the painting was installed, which was not visible to the disabled; protest Of course, the 2009 attack was an unforgettable disaster. A Russian woman, who was not allowed to immigrate to France, threw a glass at the Mona Lisa.

Mona Lisa is a symbol of da Vinci's genius in erasing

Interesting facts about Mona Lisa

>> The French government is in charge of the ownership of the Mona Lisa painting, and according to the property rights of this country, this painting cannot be bought and sold.

>> A French artist named Luc Maspero committed suicide in 1852 because of the mysterious woman in this painting. He threw himself out of the fourth floor of his hotel. His suicide note was as follows: “For years I have been living hopelessly with his smile, I prefer to die.”

>> Mona Lisa since it was exhibited in the Louvre; He received many love letters. Today, he has a special mailbox and love letters are sent to his personal address.

>> Mona Lisa had caused some people to think that this work was incomplete due to the lack of eyebrows and eyelashes. Of course, in the time when da Vinci lived, pale eyebrows and eyelashes were fashionable. With the advancement of scanning devices, experts realized that in the past, Mona Lisa had light eyelashes and eyebrows, which were probably removed during the cleaning done on this painting.

>> Another person committed suicide in 1910, in front of the Mona Lisa painting.

Mona Lisa is owned by the French government

compilation: Cover biographical section