Mona Lisa is perhaps the most popular and talked about art piece in the world. Painted by the most celebrated painter, Leonardo Da Vinci, this painting has been a matter of interest for many. Everything about the painting has been a source of debate for centuries. The enigmatic facial expression of the woman in the painting is still an unresolved mystery. Writer Dan Brown's novel, the Da Vinci Code brought a renewed interest among people for the celebrated painting. People flocked in huge numbers to its home, the Louvre museum of Paris to find out about the hidden codes described in the novel. Apart from the novel, the painting is famous for many other reasons. Firstly, it is immensely famous because of the popularity of Leonardo Da Vinci and his works on human anatomy. Secondly, the painting is famous for the techniques used by the artist and most importantly Mona Lisa is famous for being stolen from the museum!
Most of you may have heard about these known facts about Mona Lisa. But we will disclose some less known and interesting facts about this mysterious painting. Take a look at these 7 interesting facts about Mona Lisa:
- The name of the painting, Mona Lisa was the result of a spelling error! The original name of the painting was Monna Lisa. Monna in Italian is a short form of Madonna, meaning 'My Lady'.
- The identity of the woman in the painting is still a mystery. Some believe that it is the female form of Leonardo Da Vinci himself. Most popular belief is that the woman was Lisa Gherardini, who was 24-years-old and a mother of two sons.
- The painting has an imperfection. In 1956, a man named Ugo Ungaza threw a stone at the painting. This resulted in a small patch of damaged paint next to her left elbow.
- The painting is considered priceless and so it cannot be insured.
- Another interesting fact about the painting is that the woman in the painting has no eyebrows. It is rumoured that it is because when the authorities were trying to restore the painting, the eyebrows got accidentally removed. However, some people believe that Leonardo Da Vinci never completed the painting because he was a consummate perfectionist.
- The painting in the Louvre has a room of its own. It is protected in a climate controlled environment and encased in bullet proof glass. The room was built exclusively for the painting and it cost the museum over seven million dollars!
- Studies have shown that there are three different layers painted before the present version of the painting. One version has her hands clutching her arm instead of the chair in front of her.
In spite of any kind of imperfections discovered in the painting, this Renaissance art work is revered all around the world as one of the greatest masterpiece of all times.