Mona Lisa
The world’s most famous painting is the Mona Lisa also known as La Giaconda. Many believe the woman shown in the painting is Lisa Gherardini, wife of a merchant named Francesco Del Giocondo, though this is not certain.
It’s a half-length portrait of a woman painted in oil, on a wood panel by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci sometime between 1503 and 1519 when he was living in the town of Florence in Italy (he moved to France in 1516 and may have given finishing touches to the painting there). In those days, portraits showed people in stiff formal poses. Leonardo put soul and meaning in his work, giving a puzzling expression to the woman’s face and skilfully directing the viewer’s gaze to the mountainous and detailed scenery in the background. But the painting did not attract much attention during his lifetime or even for centuries afterwards.
The world first took note of it in August 1911 when it was stolen from the walls of the Louvre Museum and media frenzy followed. People flocked to the Louvre to view the empty space where the painting had been hanging; when it was recovered and put back in place, people flocked to see the now famous painting. When they scrutinized it to try to discern why it was considered valuable, they were struck by the mysterious expression on the woman’s face: the half-smile and the look in her eyes seem to be inviting attention but at the same time there is a certain aloofness in her demeanour. The mysterious smile made people wonder. Was she really the wife of the silk merchant as reported or was she somebody else, somebody close to the artist?
The Mona Lisa smile became a talking point and has remained so. The Louvre Museum attracts millions of visitors each year and most of them come to see the Mona Lisa. As a ticket to the Louvre costs 15 euros (1,180), it brings huge revenue to the museum. Art connoisseurs are reluctant to put a price on the painting, they say it is worth millions. Mona Lisa is truly a woman with a billion dollar smile!
