It's one of the world's most famous paintings – da Vinci's "Mona Lisa." Yet the iconic image and the enigmatic smile continue to mystify people to this day. Who was the subject?
Image: Imago/Cinema Publishers Collection
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7 things you may not know about the 'Mona Lisa'
The famous woman with the mysterious smile from centuries ago became an icon of the 20th century, inspiring artists, filmmakers, musicians and writers. Her 500-year-old history still fascinates people.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/C2RMF/V.A. Solé/ESRF
A lot of speculation about a phantom
There's a great deal of speculation about the person Leonardo da Vinci painted at the beginning of the 16th century. One theory goes that both a man and a woman modeled for the portrait. But a more widely recognized interpretation is that Mona Lisa was Lisa del Giocondo, the wife of a Florentine silk trader.
Image: Imago/Cinema Publishers Collection
Famous admirers
The painting landed in the private collections of French kings following Leonardo da Vinci death's in 1519. Following the French Revolution, it held a place of honor in Napoleon Bonaparte's bedroom. As of 1815, it could be seen by the public in the Louvre Museum in Paris.
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Mona Lisa has a twin
The twin has been on show for some time in Madrid's Museo del Prado. In 2012, it was discovered that this painting was created simultaneously with the original. Restoration work exposed the same Italian landscape in the background and the same improvements. That proves that both works were created at the same time. The painter of this one was presumably Francesco Melzi, one of da Vinci's pupils.
Image: dapd
Disappearing act
The "Mona Lisa" didn't really become famous until she disappeared. An Italian living in Paris stole the painting from the Louvre in 1911, wishing to take it back to Italy. It remained missing for two years before police arrested the man. The painting's return to Paris prompted an unprecedented storm of visitors to the Louvre.
Mona Lisa evokes a lot of different feelings – and apparently not only positive ones. Two different acts of vandalism were performed on the painting in 1956. One vandal threw acid at the painting, damaging it. Then a Bolivian tourist threw a rock at it. Since then, it's protected behind bullet-proof glass, which shielded it when a visitor threw a mug at it in 2009.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Godong/F. de Noyelle
The 'sfumato' effect is the secret
Countless scientists and art historians have analyzed the painting, unearthing surprising findings. In 2008, the mystery behind Mona Lisa's enigmatic smile was solved: a painting technique called "sfumato." Da Vinci applied several thin layers of paint over one another to create a blurred effect and blend the colors. It lends the painting, particularly the face, a rich, yet elusive atmosphere.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/C2RMF/V.A. Solé/ESRF
A long history
The "Mona Lisa" has not only prompted the greatest commentary ever in the history of art, it has inspired countless artists to create variations on it – from Joseph Beuys to Andy Warhol. As a media icon of the 20th century, she is found in everything from literature to music and advertising. Bob Dylan once said "Mona Lisa must have had the highway blues; you can tell by the way she smiles."
Image: Museum Barberini, Potsdam
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The painting entices millions of visitors to Paris' Louvre Museum every year. With his "Mona Lisa," Leonardo da Vinci created more than just a painting of a woman. She appears lost in reverie, yet squinting at the same time, and all the while her gaze follows the viewer. She bears no eyebrows nor lashes. Her clothing is simple and dark, as though she were grieving. But why is she smiling?
It's not just the image itself that continues to mystify. Art historians still agonize over the woman's origins.
Biographer Giorgio Vasari's theory is the most widely recognized. According to him, da Vinci was commissioned with a portrait of Lisa del Giocondo by her husband, Florentine silk trader Francesco del Giocondo, in 1503.
Yet chronologist Antonio de Beatis, writing in 1517, observed that Leonardo da Vinci had stated that the painting was commissioned by Giuliano de' Medici. Beatis is said to have been present when da Vinci received a visit by Cardinal Luigi d'Aragona to his studio in Amboise, France, on October 10, 1517. Beatis was the Cardinal's personal secretary at the time and d'Aragona himself was a close friend of Giuliano de' Medici, da Vinci's patron.
Mona Lisa's image has been copied countless times. Perhaps in an attempt to unravel the mystery?Image: picture-alliance/dpa/D. Karmann
According to Beatis' notes, da Vinci showed the Cardinal three different paintings: "St. John the Baptist," that of "St. Anne" ("The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne") and a portrait of "a certain Florentine woman, done from life, at the instance of the late Magnificent Giuliano de' Medici."
The notes lead to the implication that da Vinci painted an envisioned portrait of Pacifica Brandani, de' Medici's mistress, with whom he had an illegitimate son. Since Pacifica Brandani died during the birth of the child, the portrait was perhaps intended to offer comfort to the young child.
Both theories are advocated by various art historians, yet no one can say for sure who Mona Lisa truly was. What is a fact is that the painting meant so much to da Vinci that he never sold it and took it with him to France in 1516. It wasn't until upon his death in 1519 that it is believed that assistant and pupil Salai inherited the painting and sold it to French King Francis I. From there, it ultimately ended up in the Louvre's collection.
The date of the first public showing of "La Joconde," as the "Mona Lisa" is called in French, also remains uncertain. According to the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, October 10, 1517 is the actual date – precisely 500 years ago.
