Top 10 Amazing Facts about the Mona Lisa

Mona Lisa Photo sourced from Wikimedia

Top 10 Amazing Facts about the Mona Lisa

The Mona Lisa is one of the most valuable paintings in the world and holds the Guinness World Record for the highest-known painting insurance valuation in history at US$100 million in 1962 (equivalent to $870 million in today’s valuation).It was painted between 1503 and 1506,though it is believed the work on it continued to as late as 1517.

Mona Lisa is a half-length portrait painting by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci.It is the most visited, most known and most written about painting and most parodied work of art in the world. The painting has been definitively identified to depict Italian noblewoman Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo. 

Let’s take a look at some of the most amazing facts about it;

1.It bears a strong resemblance to many Renaissance depictions of the Virgin Mary

The Mona Lisa painting bears a strong resemblance to many Renaissance depictions of the Virgin Mary, who was at that time seen as an ideal for womanhood. The woman sits markedly upright in an armchair with her arms folded, a sign of her reserved posture. Her gaze is fixed on the observer

The woman appears alive to an unusual extent, which Leonardo achieved by his method of not drawing outlines (sfumato). The soft blending creates an ambiguous mood mainly in two features: the corners of the mouth, and the corners of the eyes. 

2.Its title is based on presumption that it depicts Lisa del Giocondo

Mona Lisa Photo sourced from Wikimedia

The title of the painting, which is known in English as Mona Lisa, is based on the presumption that it depicts Lisa del Giocondo. Lisa del Giocondo was a member of the Gherardini family of Florence and Tuscany, and the wife of wealthy Florentine silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo. The painting is thought to have been commissioned for their new home, and to celebrate the birth of their second son, Andrea.

The Italian name for the painting, La Gioconda, means ‘jocund’ (‘happy’ or ‘jovial’) or, literally, ‘the jocund one’, a pun on the feminine form of Lisa’s married name, Giocondo. In French, the title La Joconde has the same meaning.The title of the painting, though traditionally spelled Mona in English, is spelled in Italian as Monna Lisa (mona being a vulgarity in Italian), but this is rare in English.

3. It’s Kept In A Bulletproof Glass

Mona Lisa in a bullet proof glass in the Louvre Photo by Pedaalemmer Wikimedia

A museum visitor once poured acid on the Mona Lisa and almost ruined and so to keep the masterpiece safe from such and even theft it was put behind transparent glass. To keep it away from poor handlers now it can only be seen but not touched even by the most important visitors. 

After a $6.3 million renovation in 2003, the management kept the Mona Lisa in one of the museum’s largest rooms. They also amped up the security measures by keeping it behind a bulletproof glass case and adding barricades to prevent visitors from getting too close to it.

4.The Mona Lisa Cannot Be Bought Nor Sold

The Mona Lisa masterpiece cannot be currently sold or be bought according to the French Heritage law. As part of the Louvre collection, the Mona Lisa belongs to the public as much as it belongs to the French government. 

The government of French can only borrow it to other governments of other countries but cannot sell it and no one can buy it, no wonder the masterpiece has never been bought by the richest men and women in the world who would love to have her on the walls of their mansions.

5.The Monalisa painting was made popular by an act of theft

Though the painting has always been popular in the art world, it was not famous to the world and the people who have no interest in art, however everything changed 1911 when the painting was stolen from the museum  and it became the centre of attention overnight. 

Even those who barely had any interest in art followed the story of the masterpiece’s disappearance and when it was later recovered millions of people from across the world came and flocked to the Louvre to see the famed da Vinci masterpiece. It became one of the most visited painting ever. 

6.It has the highest insurance valuation of any art in the world 

Mona Lisa Digitally Restored Photo sourced from Wikimedia

The Mona Lisa has the highest insurance valuation of any art in the world making it the most expensive painting in the world. Back in 1962, Mona Lisa was assessed at US$100 million, a ridiculously huge amount of money and is an equivalent of $870 million in today’s times. 

Judging from its value and how often it has been attacked, it is no surprise that Mona Lisa has the highest insurance valuation in the art sphere. It is one of the most important and among the most renowned masterpieces making it essentially priceless.

7.Mona Lisa Has Survived Multiple Attacks

The Mona Lisa as we know it has not had one of the nicest journeys over the years and has survived numerous attacks and attempts to destroy it over the years have all become futile. Aside from the heist the Mona Lisa has also been subject to numerous attacks. Some of these attacks include; first incident was when a man who claimed to be in love with Mona Lisa cut it with a razor blade. 

A Bolivian Ugo Ungaza Villegas threw a rock at the painting, causing its glass case to break, The painting was also sprayed with red paint in 1974 while on display at Tokyo National Museum and the latest attack against Mona Lisa happened in May 2022 when a man disguised as an old lady in a wheelchair smeared cream cake across the painting’s display case. However none of this attacks made damage to the painting. 

8.The Mona Lisa is not that big 

With the influence the painting has had on the art world over the years, you may think it is one of the biggest paintings in the world but one may get disappointed to realize it is not that big and infact it is smaller than most paintings. Many people who see it for the first time without knowing its size are usually disappointed as they expected something very big.

This may sound disappointing, but this oil-on-wood painting only measures 77 cm × 53 cm (30 in × 21 in). The Mona Lisa however, is one of the heaviest paintings and weighs no less than 8.1 kg (18 lbs), thanks to its wood medium and uncountable paint layers. 

9.The Mona Lisa has lived with several French Monarchs before it settled in its current home

The Mona Lisa as we know it has lived with so many French monarchs before it finally settled in its current home in the Louvre and it is among the most travelled pieces of Art in the world. It has lived with several monarchs including King Francis I who bought Mona Lisa for 4000 gold ducats from Da Vinci’s favorite student Salai in 1518 after the painters death. 

The king then displayed it in the Palace of Fontainebleau. Later, King Louis XIV moved the Mona Lisa to the Grand Palace of Versailles, and then in 1800, the Mona Lisa came into the possession of Napoleon Bonaparte.It is currently housed in the Louvre museum in its own room. 

10.It has its own room in the Louvre

The installation of Mona Lisa in the Louvre Museum Photo by Akifukami Wikimedia

After series of attacks to Mona Lisa and with there being need for the Louvre museum to protect the painting and others of grater value, they launched a four-year, $6.3 million renovation in 2003, the painting now has its own room.A glass ceiling lets in natural light, a shatter-proof glass display case maintains a controlled temperature of 43 degrees. 

The little spotlight brings out the true colors of da Vinci’s original paints. It is one of the mist protected paintings because the glass is also bullet proof and can protect Mona Lisa from both destruction and even theft. The room also has CCTV cameras to monitor the activities around the painting.