Truth About the Mona Lisa

 The Wikipedia entry on Mona Lisa says that it is:

  "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, the most parodied work of art in the world", quoting directly from an article in The Independent. 

It goes on further to say:

'The painting's novel qualities include the subject's enigmatic expression, the monumentality of the composition, the subtle modelling of forms, and the atmospheric illusionism.'

Now I'll admit that other than 'the subject's enigmatic expression', I don't know what the rest of the statement actually means! But I will tell you this- the first time I learnt about the existence of Mona Lisa was in school when we were learning about the Renaissance period, around 5th or 6th standard I think. And it piqued my curiosity to no extent. What did the Mona Lisa actually look like? Somehow, most of us in my class collectively believed that it was the most beautiful painting in the world! I wanted nothing more than to have a glimpse of this beautiful painting. 

But internet was not so freely available (now that makes me feel ancient!), so it was only a few years later that I actually saw an image of the painting online. And... I was disappointed! This was the famous painting? The woman was not even all that beautiful! She didn't have any eyebrows! To be honest, I had seen paintings that were more beautiful in the Mysore Palace! How could this be the most beautiful painting in the world? What made it so famous?

Adrian Bliss sums up perfectly how I felt in his sketch comedy titled 'Moaner Lisa'. In it, Bliss, dressed as the Mona Lisa, moans-

"I'm the most famous painting in the world, and for what? I'm plain, I'm boring, I've got no eyebrows, and everyone's always disappointed when they see me."

After a thorough discussion with the gang, we decided it was the 'enigmatic expression' is what makes the painting so famous, hid our disappointment, and moved on with our lives.

But did you know that the painting wasn't always famous? In fact, it hasn't been famous for the better part of its existence! Even though it was painted in the 1500s, it was only in the mid to late 1800s that a bunch of French art critics began to call it a masterpiece. Even then, it was not famous outside of the art world. 

What made Mona Lisa famous was its theft. It was stolen from the Lourve in 1911. But get this-- nobody noticed that the painting had been stolen, least of all the staff at Lourve, till more than 24 hours later! And even then, it wasn't the staff working at the museum who noticed. It was another artist who had been painting in the gallery, perhaps making copies of the other art work displayed there?

When the theft came to light, most of the leading newspapers of the world carried the story, and that's how the Mona Lisa became famous!

So what became of the theft? 

There were a number of names we would recognize on the list of suspects: the well-known American financier and industrialist J. P. Morgan, and Pablo Picasso to name just two! The fame that the painting acquired after its theft meant that whoever had stolen it would find it extremely difficult to get rid of it. And that was what happened. 

The painting was eventually returned to the Lourve two years after the theft, when the man who had stolen it, Vincenzo Peruggia tried to sell it and was caught.

So what helped the Mona Lisa become famous, (other than the pioneering techniques perfected by Leonardo Da Vinci and his undeniable skill of course), was being stolen!

Many a times, that's how life is too, isn't it? We don't realise the value of something we already have, till we lose it!

Anyway, posting a couple of links to Adrian Bliss's hilarious sketch comedies on the Mona Lisa. Hope you enjoy them!

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/o-Ne96LY9f8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b37JtB4fjOE