“Unlocking the Enigma: Discover the Hidden Mysteries Behind the Mona Lisa’s Smile”
The Portrait of Mona Lisa by Italian painter, engineer, polymath and all-encompassing genius Leonardo Da Vinci is exhibited at the Salle des Etats in the Louvre Museum, in Paris, France. Painted in oil on a poplar panel, the masterpiece is relatively small, measuring 77 by 53 cm. Despite the unimpressive size, an estimated 30,000 visitors crowd around the painting every single day – except Tuesday anyway, when the Louvre is closed.
Considering that a ticket to the Louvre costs €22, the Mona Lisa, the jewel of the Louvre, helps generate some €206 million in revenue to the museum every year – that’s $223 million, roughly one quarter of the painting’s estimated value.
And yet, for all its cultural importance and fame, the Mona Lisa wasn’t really famous at all up until about a century ago thanks to one of the most famous art capers in history, which also just so happened to see none other than a young burgeoning artist by the name of Pablo Picasso arrested for stealing it.
So, what is the secret of Mona Lisa’s success? Who was the woman in the painting, why is it called the Mona Lisa, how did it rise to prominence, what mysteries and controversies lurk behind those brush strokes, and what’s the Picasso connection in the caper that made it rise to arguably the most famous painting in the world?
Let’s start with the origin of the painting itself and who the Mona Lisa was.
It was in Florence, Italy that Leonardo painted the Mona Lisa, between 1503 and 1506. The most agreed upon origin story for this work is that it was commissioned to the artist by the wealthy husband of the portrayed lady – more on this shortly.
