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Perhaps the most famous smile in the world is that of the Mona Lisa. Because tomorrow is World Smile Day, let’s discuss Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece and the famous smile it contains.
1. The painting was stolen from the Louvre in 1911, but was not discovered missing until the next day. Both Guillaume Apollinaire, the French poet, and his friend, Pablo Picasso, were suspected during the course of the investigation, but were exonerated. The real thief, Vincenzo Peruggia, was an Italian patriot who thought the famous painting should be returned to its home country. He was hailed for his patriotism in Italy and only served a few months in jail.
2. Despite being doused with acid, hit with a rock, and infested with insects, the painting is one of the most well-preserved.
Keep reading for four more things you may not know about the Mona Lisa…
3. Amazingly, the painting is uninsured. As Estelle Nadau of the Louvre puts it, “The Mona Lisa is inestimable. She belongs to the French state, which is its own insurer, that is the reason why she is not insured.”
4. There are two predominant theories for the woman’s lack of eyebrows and eyelashes. Some scholars believe the lack of facial hair is just a sign of the times, since it was common for genteel women of the time to pluck their eyebrows. Other scholars believe, however, that Leonardo simply didn’t finish the painting, since many of his paintings are unfinished.
5. The Japanese are apparently huge fans of the Mona Lisa. The 1.5 million viewers of the painting during its 1974 exhibition in Japan set a record which has not yet been broken. After that visit, the Japanese provided the triplex glass box which now protects the painting. A huge exhibit of copies and parodies, titled “Les 100 Sourires de Monna Lisa” (The 100 Smiles of Mona Lisa), toured Japan in 2000. Two years later, a mini series titled “Mona Lisa no Hohoemi” (Mona Lisa’s Smile) aired. It alleged that another version of the Mona Lisa, which da Vinci secretly painted, is somewhere in Japan.
6. According to the University of Amsterdam’s “emotion recognition” software, the subject of the Mona Lisa is 83% happy, 9% disgusted, 6% fearful, and 2% angry.
Comments (15)
Comment
I’ve heard that since the painting has faded since the time it was painted, the under-layers of pigment are starting to show through - the shadows and whatnot. That’s why it appears as if she is smiling. When it was originally painted, the Mona Lisa would have had a more emotionless appearance. That might also be why she has no eyebrows. They’ve simply faded away since it was painted.
(as explained to me by an art history prof)
posted by Brynde on 10-4-2007 at 7:02 am
Okay, my specialty is ancient art, but I’m an art history professor.
The thing about eyebrows not being painted in or fading is a crock. Look at scores of other portraits of women from the time of Leonardo and many of them are “missing” this facial feature. They plucked. It was the fashion. They would think we were nuts, too, for getting waxed in various places.
After the painting was stolen from the Louvre, no fewer than ten people came forward with the Mona Lisa–in other words, fakes and reproductions they turned in to the Museum in hopes of a hefty reward. One wonders if what is hanging in the Louvre now is the real thing ;)
posted by Pica on 10-4-2007 at 7:50 am
I had heard that the reason she didn’t smile was because she was sick with a stuffy nose and a cough that she got from the painter.
Haven’t you ever heard of The Da Vinci Cold? lol!!!
posted by Sheldon Siegel on 10-4-2007 at 7:53 am
I recently heard that the Mona Lisa was actually a self portrait of Da Vinci, and that’s why “she” is smiling. Hmmmmm….
posted by Lindsay D on 10-4-2007 at 8:11 am
The Japanese do love it. When I went to the Louvre, you literally had to push Japanese tourists aside to get a look at it. The funny part is that they kept taking hundreds pictures of it behind that glass box. The light is too low to get a good picture without the flash, and with the flash on, you just get a picture of the flash bouncing off the glass.
And pseaking of the Japanese, they also paid to have the Sistine Chapel restored in the 90’s. When I visited in ‘99, only Japanese tourists were allowed to photograph the ceiling.
Another piece of trivia people don’t seem to know (about the Mona Lisa), is that the painting itself is quite small. It’s no more than a foot by a foot and a half or so.
posted by jenni on 10-4-2007 at 10:41 am
Is anybody else now trying to picture the Mona Lisa with eyelashes? It just isn’t working in my head. I keep turning her into a Minnie-Mouse/Lisa combo.
posted by Larissa on 10-4-2007 at 12:47 pm
What I’ve always wanted to know is what is that line on the top of her forehead. Was it a veil? Was a little reference sketch? I’m really curious
posted by Melo on 10-4-2007 at 1:04 pm
@Melo:
The line at her forehead is a very thin black veil she’s wearing over her hair. You can see how it continues over her left shoulder and right part of her hair.
posted by Pica on 10-4-2007 at 1:48 pm
I had always wondered about that line, too. Thanks Pica for clearing that up!
posted by Erin on 10-4-2007 at 3:56 pm
I thought they also uncovered that the viel she’s wearing is a piece of maternal clothing, so Mona Lisa is pregnant. I think I read that in TIME magazine a while back.
posted by Rachel* on 10-4-2007 at 8:00 pm
I’ve heard that some scientists did x-ray imaging on the painting and found out that Da Vinci had painted an ankh pendant around her neck, but painted over it.
da Vinci Cold, lulz. Good one, Sheldon!
posted by heather on 10-5-2007 at 12:30 am
Whats all the fuss about the mona lisa???
I mean, yeah I’m young and I’m sure I dont fully appreciate art….but come on!!!
Its not like its the best painting in the world, what about all these other amazing paintings, people like Escher are going virtually un noticed…
And so what if shes smiling, has anyone considered she might be posing cause da vinci thought it would look nicer?
posted by Cazzi on 11-9-2007 at 3:38 pm
If the veil is a piece of maternal clothing, it could explain why she’s smiling…especially since women’s main priority in life was to have kids.
Da Vinci Cold…took me a second later than it should have. Very cheeky.
posted by Brynia on 11-9-2007 at 11:48 pm
I don’t think that the Mona Lisa could possibly be a self portrait of Da Vinci. A man’s index and middle finger are the same length, a woman’s index finger is always a little bit shorter than her middle one. A man like Da Vinci would have been well aware of this fact. If you look at her right hand, you can see that her index finger is shorter than her middle one.
posted by Bet on 1-2-2008 at 1:49 pm
Y si ustedes miran las coincidencias entre la Gioconda, la Ginebra del Benci y la mujer con flores de Verrocchio, se desmayan; o las similitudes con La dama dei gelsomini, de Lorenzo de Credi…La historia del arte permite conjeturar, muchas, muchas cosas…
posted by Angel on 3-23-2008 at 6:01 am