Incorporating new scientific research, Mona Lisa: Beyond the Glass reveals details invisible to the naked eye, and provides an insight into the techniques da Vinci used, and the identity of his sitter. There has been much speculation and debate regarding the identity of the portrait’s sitter. Corrections? would probably be so high that not one person would be able or willing to purchase and maintain the painting. The song’s first musical arrangement was in an orchestration by Nelson Riddle, and the orchestral backing … Please select which sections you would like to print: While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. He and possibly two other workers had hidden in a closet overnight, taken the portrait from the wall the morning of August 21, 1911, and run off without suspicion. ). Mona Lisa, also called Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo, Italian La Gioconda, or French La Joconde, oil painting on a poplar wood panel by Leonardo da Vinci, probably the world’s most famous painting. Raphael, who had been to Leonardo's workshop several times, promptly used elements of the portrait's composition and format in several of his works, such as Young Woman with Unicorn (c. 1506), and Portrait of Maddalena Doni (c. 1506). For some reason however, the portrait was never delivered to its patron, and Leonardo kept it with him when he went to work for Francis I, the King of France. Paris’ Louvre Museum, which houses the world’s most famous portrait, reopened Monday after a four-month coronavirus lockdown. Unlike some legendary works of art, the Mona Lisa has never really been lost. Agostino Vespucci, Handwritten comment about the Mona Lisa in Cicero’s Epistolae ad familiares (Bologna 1477), Bl. Today, in 2020, the Mona Lisa is believed to be worth more than $ 860 million, taking into consideration the inflation. login. A third suggestion was that the painting was, in fact, Leonardo’s self-portrait, given the resemblance between the sitter’s and the artist’s facial features. The Mona Lisa’s fame is the result of many chance circumstances combined with the painting’s inherent appeal. Moreover, the sensuous curves of the sitter’s hair and clothing are echoed in the shapes of the valleys and rivers behind her. Explore the latest articles from around the globe. The data from this digitisation revealed for the first time the spolvero (a drawing transfer technique) of the portrait. The subject’s softly sculptural face shows Leonardo’s skillful handling of sfumato (use of fine shading) and reveals his understanding of the musculature and the skull beneath the skin. Why did they do it? Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Leonardo DaVinci created this famous piece during the Italian Renaissance. Numerous attempts in the 21st century to settle the debate by seeking Lisa del Giocondo’s remains to test her DNA and recreate an image of her face were inconclusive. It also toured to Tokyo and Moscow in 1974. The glass protecting the Mona Lisa was replaced with a bulletproof case after several attacks in 1956, one of which damaged an area near the subject’s left elbow. Now why was she so important to paint? Another theory was that the model may have been Leonardo’s mother, Caterina. The famous Leonardo da Vinci painting wasn't recovered until two years later, in December 1913. The Mona Lisa hangs behind bulletproof glass in a gallery of the Louvre Museum in Paris, where it has been a part of the museum’s collection since 1804. Yet this simple description of a seemingly standard composition gives little sense of Leonardo’s achievement. On August 21, 1911, Leonardo da Vinci 's Mona Lisa, today one of the most famous paintings in the world, was stolen right off the wall of the Louvre. Moreover, the Louvre Museum would probably never sell it. For some reason, however, the Florentine merchant never received his wife’s portrait. The title and lyrics refer to the renaissance portrait Mona Lisa painted by Leonardo da Vinci. The Mona Lisa is priceless. This effect was investigated through measurements of pictorial relief and by the orientation of the picture surface in a number of viewing conditions, primarily in frontal and oblique views. Get a month's unlimited access to THE content online. Restorers later pasted heavy canvas over the crack and replaced the top dovetail. Virgin and Child with St Anne and St John the Baptist (Burlington House Cartoon). In The Da Vinci Code, Brown suggests Mona Lisa is an anagram for Amon l'Isa, referring to ancient Egyptian deities. Police found the portrait stashed in the false bottom of a trunk belonging to Vincenzo Peruggia, an Italian immigrant who had briefly worked at the Louvre fitting glass on a selection of paintings, including the Mona Lisa. That interpretation was put forth by, among others, Sigmund Freud, who seemed to think that the Mona Lisa’s mysterious smile emerged from a—perhaps unconscious—memory of Caterina’s smile. Nat King Cole version. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Okay so we all know that the Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo da Vinci. Updates? Register to continue. Some experts believe both the Prado Mona Lisa and the Isleworth Mona Lisa are such copies. "Mona Lisa" is a popular song written by Ray Evans and Jay Livingston for the Paramount Pictures film Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1950). Later paintings by Raphael, such as La velata (1515–16) and Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione(c. 1514–15), continued to borrow from Leonardo's painting. During World War II the Mona Lisa, singled out as the most-endangered artwork in the Louvre, was evacuated to various locations in France’s countryside, returning to the museum in 1945 after peace had been declared. to read this article. French King Francis I, in whose court Leonardo spent the last years of his life, acquired the work after the artist’s death, and it became part of the royal collection. There are many portraits, including Leonardo’s earlier La Belle Ferronnière, in which the subject’s eyes appear to move as the viewer moves. Lisa painted by Leonardo da Vinci began painting the Mona Lisa 's eyes seem to the! In Florence alerted local authorities that a man had tried mona lisa article sell him the painting presents a in. 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