Leonardo painted it not trying to make it obvious if it was a boy or a girl. It now hangs in the Louvre in Paris, France behind 2 security guards and 4 inches of glass.
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A few interesting tidbits
The Mona Lisa was painted between the years of 1503-1506. It is an oil on poplar wood. It is 20 7/8" x 30" in size. The painting is 500 years old and kept in a special, bullet proof, humidity proof case to prevent deterioration from humidity etc and from possible damage by the public. It is kept at a constant temperature of 68 degrees Fahrenheit and 55% humidity. The box itself has over 9 pounds of silica gel applied to it to help keep it secure! The painting has been in the possession of the French government for nearly 500 years now, first owned by the Royal Family and then after the Revolution, by the People of France.
Who is she
The painting is thought to be of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of wealthy Florentine businessman Francesco del Giocondo - the portrait is also called La Giocondo sometimes. Although da Vinci painted the portrait for Giocondo, he kept it.
In 1516-17, Leonardo left Italy for France and the portrait went with him. Some historians think he finished it in France rather than Italy. Because da Vinci kept the painting, rather than turn it over to the person who commissioned it, there has been doubt about who Mona Lisa was. No documentation exists to determine who the portrait is of. However in 2007, historians believe they found the grave of Gherardini in Italy and think she may have been da Vinci's neigbour.
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/01/19/monalisa_his.HTML?category=history
There are two stories as to how the painting ended up in the Louvre:
1. When da Vinci died (in France) in 1519, the painting remained in France because da Vinci had no heirs to claim the painting.
2. King Francois II purchased it from Leonardo da vinci for 4,000 gold coins, when he moved to the French court.
The painting passed to the King of France and remained in the royal collection until the French Revolution in 1789 when the royal palace, the Louvre, was turned into a public art gallery. It wasn't until the public was allowed to see the painting that the real mystery took hold. People were captivated by the engmatic smile and eyes that seem to follow the viewer.
Oh the troubles she's seen
In August 1911, the Mona Lisa was stolen. When the painting first vanished, the staff at the Louvre didn't raise the alarm, they simply thought the museum photographer had taken the painting to photograph. They didn't become worried until the following day when they discovered the painting wasn't in the photo studio. Where was it?
The police were finally called in, but it was feared the thief was long gone. It took a week to do a thorough search of the 49 acre museum and they only found the painting's frame. Police were frantic and questioned everyone whom they deemed "suspicious" including Spanish artist Pablo Picasso. (that's an interesting story in itself, but I'll leave that for another day.) The French newspapers were spinning conspiracy tales, including one about a wealthy American collector who had it stolen so he could have a copy painted. He would keep the original and "return" the copy.
Where was the painting? Who had stolen it? The theft of this national French treasure was about to take on an interesting nationalist twist.
27 months after the theft the painting finally re-emerged when the Uffizi Gallery in Florence Italy contacted authorities. They had been approached by Italian Vincenzo Perugia who tried to sell them the famed painting for $100,000. He said the painting was painted in Florence, by da Vinci so it should be returned to Florence. He used patriotism as a motive - the French treasure was an Italian treasure and should be returned.
How did he pull of the heist? He hid in the museum before closing on Sunday night and waited until all the staff left. He removed the painting, and cut the picture out of it's frame, discarding the frame in the staircase, where it was found by police a week later.
Now here's the really interesting trivia: Perugia has been questioned by the police right after the theft. He had been one of 4 men hired by the Louvre to put all the great masterpieces under glass for protection. He fooled the police and they let him go.
The New York Times has on-line a copy of the original newspaper article about the arrest of Perugia's accomplices in 1913. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.HTML?res=9806EED6103FE633A25751C2A9649D946296D6CF
The Italian government returned the portrait to the Louvre.
During the second world war, the Lady was moved out of the museum and housed in the Chateau Amboise, then moved to an abbey and finally Ingres Museum.
Further woes for the lady
In 1956, the Mona Lisa was the subjected of 2 vandalism attacks. The first attack severly damaged the lower corner of the painting when someone threw acid on it. After it was restored and returned to it's place in the museum. A few months after the first attack, someone else threw as stone at it. Again it was damaged and needed to be repaired. It was then that the Louvre placed it in the glass case.
Visits to other places
The Mona Lisa has been a bit of a globe trotter. She visited the United States in Dec and Jan 1962-63 and Tokyo Japan and Moscow Russia in 1974. She has never left the Louvre since.
If you ever get a chance to visit the Louvre, you have to be patient. The Louvre has up to 65,000 visitors in a day and the Mona Lisa is the museums most popular exhibit. But leave your flash at home - you can't use them!
The name Mona Lisa means My Lady Lisa or could also be Madame Lisa by the way.
It had been rumored that the Mona Lisa was Leonarda DaVinci's love interest, and that he had painted her due to his passion towards her. Some have argued that the Mona Lisa is actually a self portrait of DaVinci himself, in a woman's figure.
Historians are still debating over the true story behind the Mona Lisa.
Large foreheads, like the Mona Lisa's, were considered beautiful at the time of the painting.
The Mona Lisa is a16th-century portrait painted in oil on a poplar panel, made by the Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo Da Vinci.
The painting is a half-length portrait and depicts a woman whose expression is often described as enigmatic. It hangs in the Musée du Louvre in Paris, France and is perhaps the most famous painting in existence.
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