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The Mona Lisa ( Italian: La Gioconda; French: La Joconde), less commonly rendered as the Monna Lisa, is an oil painting on poplar wood by the famous Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci. The painting shows a woman with an introspective expression, smiling slightly in what is sometimes described as an "enigmatic smile." The Mona Lisa is often described as the most famous piece in art history; few other works of art are as romanticized, celebrated, or reproduced.
Leonardo began the Mona Lisa in 1503 and completed it three or four years later. The painting, once stolen, now hangs in the Musée du Louvre in Paris, France.
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 LucéThe mansion at Clos Luc Amboise, France is located 500 meters from the Royal Chateau Amboise and are connected by an underground passageway. Built by Etienne le Loup in the middle of the 15th century, it was acquired in 1490 by King Charles VIII of France near the king's chateau in Amboise. The King bought the painting for 4,000 écus.
The painting first resided in Fontainebleau, later in the Palace of VersaillesVersailles is a commune in France. It is the prefecture (capital) of the Yvelines departement''. Population (1999): 88,476. History Versailles used to be an unimportant village a few miles west of Paris until May 6, 1682 when King Louis XIV moved his cour. After the French RevolutionThe period of the French Revolution in the history of France covers the years between 1789 and 1799, in which democrats and republicans overthrew the absolute monarchy and the Roman Catholic Church perforce underwent radical restructuring. While France wo, it was moved to the Louvre. Napoleon IFor other meanings, see Napoleon (disambiguation . Napoleon Bonaparte ( 15 August 1769 5 May 1821) was a general and ruler of France. General of the French Revolution, he was the effective ruler of France starting in 1799: First Consul Premier Consul of t 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.
The Mona Lisa was stolen on August 22, 1911. On September 7, 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.
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.
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 being kept under security glass.
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. Prior to the 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 object ever insured. [1]
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, due to inflation and the Mona Lisas continued popularity, if the painting's value was to be re-assessed, it might very well exceed $104.1 million. The Mona Lisa was not damaged on the U.S. tour, so the insurance value turned out to be a purely hypothetical number.
In 1974, the painting went on tour again and was exhibited in Tokyo and Moscow before being returned to the Louvre for good, where it resides today.
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