Mona Lisa

History

Leonardo began the Mona Lisa in 1503 and completed it three or four years later.

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The painting was brought from Italy to France by Leonardo in 1516 when King François I invited the great painter to work at the Clos Lucé near the king's chateau in Amboise. The King bought the painting for 4,000 écus.

Related Topics:
Italy - France - 1516 - François I - Clos Lucé - Amboise - écu

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At some point after Leonardo's death the painting was cut down by having part of the panel at both sides removed. Originally there were two columns on either side of the figure, as we know from early copies. The edges of the bases can still be seen.

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The painting first resided in Fontainebleau, later in the Palace of Versailles. After the French Revolution, it was moved to the Louvre. Napoleon I had it moved to his bedroom in the Tuileries Palace; later it was returned to the Louvre. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, it was moved from the Louvre to a hiding place elsewhere in France.

Related Topics:
Fontainebleau - Versailles - French Revolution - Napoleon I - Tuileries Palace - Franco-Prussian War - 1870 - 1871

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The painting was not very well-known until the mid nineteenth century, when it began to be appreciated by artists of the emerging Symbolist movement, who associated it with their ideas about feminine mystique. This view of the painting was most fully expressed by the critic Walter Pater in his 1867 essay on Leonardo, in which he described her as a kind of mythic embodiment of eternal femininity, who is "older than the rocks among which she sits" and who "has been dead many times and learned the secrets of the grave".

Related Topics:
Symbolist - Walter Pater - 1867

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The painting's increasing fame was further emphasised when it was stolen on August 21, 1911. On September 7, avant-garde French poet Guillaume Apollinaire, who had once called for the Louvre to be "burnt down", was arrested and put in jail on suspicion of theft. His friend Pablo Picasso was brought in for questioning, but both were later released. At the time, the painting was believed lost forever. It turned out that Louvre employee Vincenzo Peruggia stole it by simply walking out the door with it hidden under his coat. The theft was master-minded by Eduardo de Valfierno, a con-man who had commissioned the French art forger Yves Chaudron to make copies of the painting so he could sell them as the missing original. Because he didn't need the original for his con, he never contacted Peruggia again after the crime. After having kept the painting in his apartment for two years, Peruggia grew impatient and was finally caught when he attempted to sell it to a Florence art dealer; it was exhibited all over Italy and returned to the Louvre in 1913.

Related Topics:
Stolen - August 21 - 1911 - September 7 - Guillaume Apollinaire - Pablo Picasso - Vincenzo Peruggia - Art forger - Yves Chaudron - Florence - 1913

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During World War II the painting was again removed from the Louvre and brought to safety, first in Chateau Amboise, then in the abbey of Loc-Dieu and finally in the Ingres Museum in Montauban.

Related Topics:
World War II - Chateau Amboise - Montauban

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In 1956, the lower part of the painting was severely damaged after an acid attack. Several months later someone threw a stone at it. It is now covered by security glass.

Related Topics:
1956 - Acid

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From December 14 1962 to March of 1963, the painting was lent to the United States and shown in New York City and Washington D.C. In 1974, the painting went on tour again and was exhibited in Tokyo and Moscow before being returned to the Louvre for good.

Related Topics:
December 14 - 1962 - March - 1963 - United States - New York City - Washington D.C. - 1974 - Tokyo - Moscow - Louvre

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Prior to the 1962-63 tour, the painting was assessed for insurance purposes at $100 million. According to the Guinness Book of Records, this makes the Mona Lisa the most valuable painting ever insured http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/gwr5/content_pages/record.asp?recordid=50934. As an expensive painting, it has only recently been surpassed by Pablo Picasso's Garçon à la pipe, which was sold for $104.1 million on May 4, 2004. However, this does not account for the change in prices due to inflation -- $100 million in 1962 is approximately $608 million in 2004 when adjusted for inflation using the US consumer price index. http://www.eh.net/hmit/compare/.

Related Topics:
Guinness Book of Records - Expensive painting - Pablo Picasso - Garçon à la pipe - May 4 - 2004

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On April 6, 2005 — following a period of curatorial maintenance, recording, and analysis — the painting was moved, within the Louvre, to a new home in the museum's Salle des Etats. It is displayed in a purpose-built, climate-controlled enclosure behind unbreakable, non-reflective glass.

Related Topics:
April 6 - 2005 - Louvre - Salle des Etats

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