The Mona Lisa

The Florentine merchant Francesco del Giocondo commissioned Leonardo to make this portrait of his wife, Lisa Gherardini.

The Louvre, Paris, France

Look carefully at the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci. If you look closely enough at the background behind the Mona Lisa, then you will notice that the landscape behind her simply isn't even. On her left hand side, there are tall spiky mountains and on her right hand side there are trees of some kind. And in-front of the trees there is a river of some kind flowing towards you. Now look at the bottom of the mountain and the trees on her left and right. Shouldn't the land be straight and not having one (the land underneath the mountains) higher than the other (the land underneath the trees)?

It is made to represent the sacred male and female, left was always associated with females so he lowered the land to make her look more graceful and raised the land on the male, or right, side to make her look not as graceful and more male, and the name also represents the male and female Egyptian gods of fertility. Amon and Isis, (also known as L'isa).

AMON L'ISA

MONA LISA

The Mona Lisa is neither male nor female.

The Mona Lisa has BLACK eyes. :) :(........I think. My best guess.

linseed oil paints on a poplar panel

If you're asking did Leonardo Da Vinci paint himself as a woman in La Gioconda (the Mona Lisa painting), the answer is no.

The painting was commissioned by a wealthy merchant named Francesco del Giocondo and was to be a portrait of his wife, Lisa. Most authorities believe she IS the woman in the painting.

On Monday, August 21, 1911, the world's most famous work of art - Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa - was stolen from the Louvre museum in Paris. That morning, many museum employees noticed that the painting was not hanging in its usual place. But, they assumed the painting was taken off the wall by the official museum photographer who was shooting pictures of it up in his studio.

By Tuesday morning, when the painting hadn't been returned and it was not in the photographer's studio, museum officials were notified. The painting was gone!

The police were contacted immediately and they set up headquarters in the museum curator's office. The entire museum was searched from top to bottom. This took a week because of the size of the Lourve: it's a 49-acre building which runs along the Seine river for 2,200 feet. The only thing a detective found was the heavy frame that once held the Mona Lisa. It was discovered in a staircase leading to a cloakroom.

Once the news became public, French newspapers made several claims as to the nature of the theft. One newspaper proclaimed that an American collector stole the work and would have an exact copy made which would be returned to the museum. This "collector" would then keep the original. Another newspaper said that the entire incident was a hoax to show how easy it was to steal from the Louvre.

Many people were questioned about the theft - from museum employees to people who worked or lived nearby. Perhaps somebody might have seen someone acting "suspiciously?" The police even questioned Pablo Picasso. Picasso had previously bought two stone sculptures from a friend named Pieret. Pieret had actually stolen these pieces from the Louvre months before the Mona Lisa was stolen. Picasso thought that perhaps his friend might have also stolen the Mona Lisa.

Fearful of the implications and bad publicity, Picasso had the sculptures given to a local newspaper in order for their return to the museum. Picasso wished to remain anonymous, but someone gave his name to the police. After an interrogation, the police concluded that Picasso knew nothing about the theft of the Mona Lisa.

Luckily, the painting was recovered 27 months after it was stolen. An Italian man named Vincenzo Perugia tried to sell the work to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy for 500,000 lire ($100,000). Perugia claimed he stole the work out of patriotism. He didn't think such a work by a famous Italian should be kept in France. What Perugia didn't realize was that while the Mona Lisa was probably painted in Italy, Leonardo took it with him to France and sold it to King Francis I for 4,000 gold coins.

How did Perugia steal the Mona Lisa? He had spent Sunday night in the Louvre, hiding in an obscure little room. Monday morning, while the museum was closed, he entered the room where the painting was kept and unhooked from the wall. In a staircase, he cut the painting from it's frame. While trying to leave the building, he came to a looked door. He unscrewed the doorknob and put it in his pocket. He then walked out of the Louvre and into the pages of history.

Interestingly enough, ten months before the painting was stolen, the Louvre decided to have all masterpieces put under glass. Perugia was one of four men assigned to the job. Police questioned Perugia after the theft, but his easy-going, calm demeanor settled any doubts of his involvement.

The source of this story on the Mona Lisa theft is The Art Stealers by Milton Esterow, New York: Macmillan Company, 1966. pp 100-152

The Mona Lisa is in the permanent collection. Ticket prices (American) to see the permanent collection is $14.54, and from 11.10 € (Euro). (As of 16 June 2011) There are several location you can purchase advance tickets on line. See the Louvre link below.

Yes. See the related link below for the story.

The painting by Leonardo is from the High Italian Renaissance, 16th century. Began in 1503, he continued to work on it through 1506. He carried it with him until his death in 1519.

Realistic I guess you would say. It is a half portrait of Lisa de Giocondo painted by Leonardo da Vinci. While the background was painted in a way that would give the image depth and may not have existed, the subject did; and as it is a portrait of her, I would say it is meant to be realistic in it presentation of her image. However, in the arts realistic or realism means something slightly different than a true image of the subject. Rather, it means the subject of the image is as it would be in everyday life. So the Mona Lisa being a planned portrait would not be realism or realistic.

She was thinking of all the bills she had to pay.

The legend goes that Mona Lisa had bad teeth, so she didn't show them. In those days, dental hygiene was not a personal point, so many people did not have nice smiles. It was also a fact of life that women who bore children did not get enough calcium, so they lost teeth. There is a folk saying, "have a child, lose a tooth" that was common wisdom until the 20th century. So the most common wisdom about Mona Lisa not smiling was that she was a new mother and had lost teeth. It was a very common problem during that time period.

Mona-Lisa Pursiainen was born on 1951-06-21.

Search Results Featured snippet from the web The real texture of the painting is a cracked, rough surface, but the simulated texture by Leonardo is the smoothness of the figure's skin and the roughness of the backdrop.

On the first floor, at one end of the 'Grande galerie'.

Yes, turpentine is a gum spirit and is an extracted oil. It is soluble in oil and thus can thin almost any type of oil based paint, especially when the paint is wet. Paints with an acrylic base polymer do not respond well to this solvent and the best way to remove it is by scrapping it off/using some form of abrasion. However, turpentine is a very strong solvent and can damage the natural fibers of certain types of leather, ex: lambskin, suede. Cowhide and other tough leathers should be able to withstand it. Always test a small sport first, and use either diluted turpentine or as little as possible and wipe off within seconds, reapplying a little each time--you don't want it to soak into the leather, which harms more than helps it. After all the paint is removed, moisturize the leather with leather lotion or neatsfoot oil. Do not use silicone polishes, mineral oil or other oils. Waxes like carnuba wax or beeswax can restore the shiny surface.

yes artist jack Bauer painted the Mona lisa on a wood Panel, in Layors also It,s the only other known Mona lisa painted on a wood panel moe10621@aol.com

The painting is a rectangle. Leonardo used artistic principles to enhance the piece, such as a triangular shape between objects and subject and atmospheric perspective.

Used in the face are mostly worm colours such as yellows, oranges, reds and tones in between. In the backround there are mostly cold colours such as green and blue. There are not any specific colours and also over time the original colour of the painting has faded. Hope this is at least a little bit helpful.

'cos it was done by a famous artist and it is a good painting with a lot of work adn effort innit

the mona Lisa is an ugly woman, but the brilliance of the painting is in the detail of the scenery surrounding the focal point of mona Lisa herself.

It was painted during a few years, not months. (1503-1506)

It was painted with oil paint on a wood panel.

Yes, France is famous for wine. It was already famous at the time of the Roman empire, and the Gauls (local tribes living there at the time) famously invented the wood barrel. Nowadays, the traditions in wine making are strictly enforced by professional bodies, meaning that you cannot use fertilizers, water the vineyards, or add chemicals to the wine as happens in most wine-producing countries.