“Unlocking the Enigma: Discover the Hidden Mysteries Behind the Mona Lisa’s Smile”
In the late 18th century, King Louis XV unceremoniously had the painting removed from its place of prominence at Versailles and placed out of the way in the keeper of the royal buildings’ office.
After the French revolution, the Louvre was converted into a museum, and in 1797 the Mona Lisa returned to its halls, widely ignored by the general public. In 1800, another kind of general, General Napoleon Bonaparte, took a fancy to the Tuscan lady, and had her relocated to the chambers of his wife Josephine. But not for long, as in 1805 the Mona Lisa was once again moved to the Louvre’s Salon Carré where it remained until August 21, 1911.
That said, it was during the 19th century that while the masses still weren’t overtly aware of the painting, art critics were starting to appreciate it, with particularly French art critics beginning to hold it up as a model of Renaissance painting techniques. This helped it attain a level of significant fame among art enthusiasts of the world, but to the wider general public, it was still little known. This would only change thanks to the Picasso caper we’ll get into shortly.
We will pick up the painting’s history in a later section. For the moment, let’s go back to why art enthusiasts first began appreciating the painting to the level they did in the late 19th century. In a word- technique.
In the painting, Da Vinci experimented with a method known by the Italian word sfumato, which can be translated as ‘nuanced’ or ‘shaded’. Rather than painting well-defined outlines to his subject, the artist applied several layers of different colours, tones and shades, waiting for each one to dry before laying on the next.
