If someone was asked to name a famous painting, they might say the Mona Lisa. The Mona Lisa or La Gioconda, is a 16th century oil painting by Leonardo da Vinci. The Mona Lisa is also known as ‘La Gioconda’, a reference to her married name, or ‘La Joconde’, meaning ‘the happy one’ (Cris 2015). Leonardo painted the Mona Lisa between 1503 and 1506, in Florence Italy. The size of the painting is 77 x 53 cm. If a person were to go see the Mona Lisa painting, they would say “it is smaller than they expected”. On the internet, billboard, magazine etc. the painting is shown bigger, this is because in reality it is smaller than one might think. The work is currently owned by the Government of France and is on display at the Louvre museum in Paris under
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In fact, according to Laura Cumming, “the Mona Lisa only gained worldwide celebrity status in 1911 when a worker in the Louvre, Italian Vincenzo Peruggia, took the painting off the wall, hid in a closet, and calmly walked out with it under his coat after the museum had closed”. The theft, which was not discovered until a visitor enquired about the where the painting was, made front page news around the world and visitors would visit the empty slot”. “After a number of copies were made by a counterfeiter, Peruggia kept the painting for two years but was eventually caught when he tried to sell the work in Italy, claiming that he wanted to see the painting back where it belonged” (Cumming). “The painting was returned to France with much fanfare in 1913” (Cumming). People did not notice the painting was gone because they thought the painting was just getting photographed or cleaned up. The painting is still housed in the Musee du Louvre, in Paris; and the painting is valued as priceless. To this day the Mona Lisa has a current estimated value of almost seven hundren sixty-eight million dollars, based on an insurance assessment in the early 1960s, valued then at $100 million (Chris 2015). The Mona Lisa’s mysterious expression, which is both fascinating and indifferent, has given the portrait worldwide fame, and many years later it continues to attract admirers in the millions. Many duplicates had been made of the painting over the years, including some where the Mona Lisa’s face has a mustache, or the face is swap with other famous people. Over the centuries, the famous painting has withstood attempts at vandalism as well. The first occurrence of vandalism was when somebody threw acid at the bottom half, severely damaging the masterpiece. Another vandal threw a rock at the work, removing a chip of paint from near her elbow. It was eventually painted over. Since the painting had numerous counts
In fact, according to Laura Cumming, “the Mona Lisa only gained worldwide celebrity status in 1911 when a worker in the Louvre, Italian Vincenzo Peruggia, took the painting off the wall, hid in a closet, and calmly walked out with it under his coat after the museum had closed”. The theft, which was not discovered until a visitor enquired about the where the painting was, made front page news around the world and visitors would visit the empty slot”. “After a number of copies were made by a counterfeiter, Peruggia kept the painting for two years but was eventually caught when he tried to sell the work in Italy, claiming that he wanted to see the painting back where it belonged” (Cumming). “The painting was returned to France with much fanfare in 1913” (Cumming). People did not notice the painting was gone because they thought the painting was just getting photographed or cleaned up. The painting is still housed in the Musee du Louvre, in Paris; and the painting is valued as priceless. To this day the Mona Lisa has a current estimated value of almost seven hundren sixty-eight million dollars, based on an insurance assessment in the early 1960s, valued then at $100 million (Chris 2015). The Mona Lisa’s mysterious expression, which is both fascinating and indifferent, has given the portrait worldwide fame, and many years later it continues to attract admirers in the millions. Many duplicates had been made of the painting over the years, including some where the Mona Lisa’s face has a mustache, or the face is swap with other famous people. Over the centuries, the famous painting has withstood attempts at vandalism as well. The first occurrence of vandalism was when somebody threw acid at the bottom half, severely damaging the masterpiece. Another vandal threw a rock at the work, removing a chip of paint from near her elbow. It was eventually painted over. Since the painting had numerous counts